Itinerary Help for couple’s 1st trip to Japan: 2.5 weeks in Oct.-Nov. 2022.

25 comments

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2. You won’t be in Nara by lunch time unless you eat lunch at 4pm. Too many things packed into certain days.

   Arashiyama is part of a huge garden complex that really shouldn’t be missed. Nishiki Market is simply massive, this day is totally unrealistic.

3. I think most of these days are pretty unrealistic, unfortunately. You say you want to get lost in big cities, but at the rate you’re going, you’ll have no time to wander before you have to hop on the train to your next location. I’d recommend really taking the time on Google Maps to plot out the transit time between each of the locations you want to do on any given day.

   Let’s take October 27th as an example:

   Higashiyama to Arashiyama: ~60 minutes

   Arashiyama to Nishiki Market: ~50 minutes

   Nishiki Market to Kurama Onsen: ~65 minutes

   Kurama Onsen to Pontocho: ~60 minutes

   That’s nearly four hours of crisscrossing the city on buses and trains in just one day. It’s simply not feasible, and this is not the only day where you’ll have this issue.

   Also, I’d recommend moving your trip two weeks later so you can catch peak fall colors in these areas. Would be a shame to miss it by just a couple of weeks.

4. I do no disagree about the idea of buying cloth in Japan, however, I hope you both wear small or medium as it will be easy to find things at your size. If you wear extra large, it might have quite a limited choice. For beer, I would recommend to use the app Untappd as you can use it to both record the beers you try and they have a search option to look for breweries and it work anywhere, so you can use it at home or when traveling anywhere.

   Oct 24 : while I agree that Mori tower is one of the really good observation deck in Tokyo, that is getting a lot of moving around at the end of the day if you plan Shibuya crossing after. So instead, I would check Shibuya Sky for the sunset.

   Oct 25 : Kind of disagree with the order. Asakusa is right next to sky tree, by going away then return ? I would change order to Ueno, Akihabara (option to walk by Ameyoko) Asakusa, Sky tree (option to walk between the two).

   Oct :26 Personally I would get in the train early in the morning and you can realistically be in Kyoto for lunch. Drop your bag at hotel before check-in and go eat in Nishiki market then Philosopher’s path.

   Oct 27 : this is way too much. I do not think you have to be that early in Arashiyama. The part that is actually unrealistic is Kurama, as it is quite far. If you want to try a onsen, then just search a bit, there is some around Arashiyama.

   Oct 28 : Unlike what other people said, I see no problem about it. The only thing is that you might want to not hike all the way up in Fushimi Inari-Taisha as this will take a couple of hours, so just check the time to decide when you go back to the train to get to Nara for lunch. Also, you are missing the most important place in Nara, that is Todai-ji, it is a must.

   Oct 29 : Nanzen-ji should be done at the start or end of Philosopher’s path, find more things to do in Osaka.

   Oct 31 : Still don’t understand why you want to take the train in the middle of the day. I always take the train either early or after 5pm so I am free to explore as much as I want from 9am to 5pm, that is when most attractions are open. You do not want to rent bikes your first day in Onomichi. On one side of the train track, it is quite flat, can walk next to the water, or check the shotengai (no bike in shotengai) and on the other side of the train track it’s going uphill to Senko-ji temple that have a gorgeous view. This side is full of steep streets, some even turning in staircase, so bad time for bikes…. that is unless you meant rent the bike for next day. Onomichi is one of my favorite place in Japan and I think is totally worth spending a day.

   Nov 1 : Why return to Onomichi by bus ? You would be in Ehime prefecture…. you want rurality and out of the well beaten path… this is you chance, do some research about shikoku and do something there. Just send your luggage from Onomichi to next hotel (you would likely want to stay 2 night and bring one change of cloth with you). I would even consider an open jaw ticket and fly out of Shikoku (even if it mean a connection in Tokyo or Osaka).

   Depending if you are open to the idea of spending time in Shikoku, I could check to see if there is any nice onsen. For the budget, you mean 500 by person of for 2 ? I as as they usually charge by person.

5. Shibuya or Roppangi on Halloween

6. You’re going to have a great time. 🙂

   My girlfriend and I went for 3 weeks in late November to early December 2018. We really enjoyed going at this time of year, as the fall colors were peaking (and absolutely stunning) in Kyoto — and Himeji, where we went out to the very beautiful and comparatively untouristed Engyoji Temple. In October and early November, I think Kyoto and Tokyo will still be pretty green, so if the fall colors are important to you, you might consider shifting your trip back by a month. If you stick with October, though, there should be nice colors in northern Honshu or the central mountain regions, so you might consider changing your itinerary to include some time there.

   That brings me to my other suggestion, about a rural onsen! We spent two nights at Tsurunoyu Onsen in Akita. It was easy to get to from Tokyo – just a 3 or four hour bullet train, and there’s a shuttle bus to take you to the ryokan itself. It was everything you want a rural ryokan/onsen experience to be – beautiful, serene, isolated, with great food and milky white water. There are also other onsens in the area, and the shuttle bus makes a loop between them, so you can visit the others too! We were more than happy to relax at Tsurunoyu for our two days, but when we go back we’ll definitely check out the others.

7. Kimi Ryokan in Ikebukuro is nice, inexpensive, tucked away from the bustle, but only a 5 minute walk from the train station.

8. I’d recommend trying to limit your transport as much as possible eg would be that on the 25 rather than going ueno -> asakusa then backwards direction again to akihabara then fowards direction to Tokyo sky tree you could go ueno -> akihabara -> asakusa -> Tokyo sky tree. I also recommend going to a Japanese BBQ for dinner there are some great options in Shinjuku, the atmosphere in Yakiniku restaurants are amazing.
   Not sure your hotel situation but I’d also recommend to not transfer hotels so often. My biggest regret from my holiday in Japan with my partner was changing hotels every few days and having to transport suit cases around when that time could be spent exploring and relaxing.

   And LASTLY if you can try a karaoke bar!!

   Hope you guys have an amazing time, Japan really is amazing and remember to take some things slow so you can take in everything.

9. If you book anything before Japan officially opens up to tourists, I’d suggest buying travelers insurance just in case.

10. Everyone is suggested great advice. The only one I would suggest is to learn about how the trains and mass transportation works and incorporate jetlag into your schedule.

    I went with my wife and we ate at a fancy crab place but kept falling asleep during the end cause of the jet lag lol.

11. I agree with others that you have WAY too much planned on the 27th – transit between attractions alone will eat up hours of your time.

    I may have more time to come back and flesh some ideas out later, but I wanted to cast my vote for going to Kurama on that day. Kurama is precious, and Kuramadera absolutely gorgeous with stunning views of the valley. Set aside a whole day or at least the very early afternoon through evening.

    I also agree that Fushimi Inari + Nara is an ambitious day:

    **My recommendation for the 27th:**

    Early morning, give yourself 3 hours to fully experience Fushimi Inari (it’s worth it to hike to the top of the mountain; and you don’t want to rush and not fully experience and appreciate the many side-shrines and whatnot throughout the mountain); after getting a quick breakfast at a 7-11, FamilyMart or Lawson’s (you really must experience Japanese convenience store food at least once – for my partner and I, Japanese convenience store food was a morning staple because it’s cheap, delicious, and saves time – time better spent seeing everything we wanted to see!).

    Maybe have an early lunch in a nearby location. Then, transit to Kurama in the late morning; climb the steps of Kuramadera; from the top of Kuramadera, hike down through the forest to Kibune (not a long hike – and the town is even more precious than Kurama, IMO) and check out the town there, Kifune shrine, and the other shrine. Hike or bus back to Kuramadera/Kurama, spend the early evening at the onsen soaking your now sore muscles; back to Kyoto for dinner/craft brewery.

    Switch Nishiki Market with Fushimi Inari on your original itinerary – check out the market before you head to Nara.

12. I did a very similar trip in 2019. We stopped in Hakone for two nights in between Tokyo and Kyoto. We stayed at a lovely ryoken; since it is a spa town, there are quite a few. Our was a block from the cog railway, but felt remote and had a open air onsen.

    Would recommend flying out of Osaka rather than backtracking all the way to Tokyo.

13. You’re gonna love the place, however I get the feeling you’re going to regret trying to pack so many things into your itinerary. Beyond what others have said about the ambitious cross-town logistics, you’re simply going to tire yourself out. You’ll have very little time to dwell in any one spot, and if you see something cool that you want to check out (and I can guarantee that you will), you’ll then need to choose between it and cancelling something on your itinerary.

    You won’t have the time to “get lost in a big city”, which is a shame given how many things there are to discover in Tokyo alone. I think three cities in 2.5 weeks is going to feel like a whirlwind, and the opposite of relaxing, and I’d suggest trimming back your (rather precise) wish list of things to do and rather focus on areas that you’d like to explore instead. You’ll feel less rushed and you’ll probably discover things that aren’t in any guidebooks too.

14. Overall it looks busy but achievable. There are a couple of days in Kyoto where you probably have a bit too much on so if you can add another day to Kyoto that would give you a bit of flexibility. Are you able to fly into Tokyo and fly out of Osaka to save you a bit of time?

    If you are looking for Onsen towns, have a look at Kinosaki. It is somewhat near Onomichi but the trek back to Tokyo would take a bit of time. If it doesn’t look rural enough then Takayama is always nice for the countryside. Both are popular with tourists but will be quieter than Kyoto/Tokyo. Hakone is also popular and a convenient stop between Kyoto and Tokyo.

15. Friday. October. 28:

    You have an early visit to fushimi Inari. This depends whether you just want to see the first gates or walk over the mountain in it’s entirety. I spent a good couple of hours wandering all the paths and doing a full loop here, if you were looking at the same maybe move it off the same day you wish to do Nara because that in itself needs a day of its own in my opinion!

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17. If you like drinking and just letting loose and enjoying good company. Shinjuku Golden Gai is the place to be. Theres about over 200 tightly packed bars on so many different strrets. Enjoy either way.

18. That’s a verrrrry full trip! Make sure some of the things you want to do you’re able to do on different days, just in case you need a day of rest.
    My husband and I have traveled to Japan before, and I will say, the language barrier was not much of an issue in the cities. But be sure to have pictures of where you want to go, just in case you need to ask for help and English cannot be used. I’d recommend getting a green train card (Suica Card), where you can load a bunch of money onto it and just swipe for whichever train you need to get on to. It’s worth it.

    As for onsen, there are some remarkable ones near Fuji. That time of year, you should have an amazing view of the Yama (mountain) while soaking outside.

    Enjoy your trip! I miss Japan and can’t wait to go back.

19. My hubs and I went to Yama No Chaya in Hakone which is about an hour away from Shinjuku for our honeymoon. It had a private bath with a nice view of nature inside our room. Our room had 2 stories!

20. On Oct 25 Hitachino Nest Brewery refers to one of their pubs/halls/stores around Tokyo and not their actual brewery in Ibaraki, correct? The brewery in Ibaraki is definitely a fun excursion (though I’d probably only recommend it to people living in Japan) but it’s a day trip in itself. Just going there and back after lunch it’d be a rush to make it to Tokyo Skytree for a ~5pm sunset (this is probably impossible depending on where in Tokyo you have lunch and assuming you finish lunch at 1pm).

    On a slightly related note, in certain parts of Tokyo, I’d suggest avoiding going for lunch around 12pm-1pm during weekdays. In neighborhoods with lots of office buildings there can be a pretty big rush starting right at noon. Just going a little earlier (11am) or later (1pm) you can get lunch menu prices and avoid the rush entirely. The lines aren’t really that big of a deal, tbh, I just know that some friends have felt rushed/overwhelmed/pressured while trying to order/enjoy their lunch in a small restaurant with a line of people waiting.

21. If your Tokyo hotel has a concierge contact them in advance for Michelin restaurants. Back just before the pandemic hit I had lunch at Ginza Iwa, and it was almost empty.

    In Nara I can suggest Wa Yamamura for a kaiseki lunch.

22. Consider a day trip to Nikko for one of your Tokyo days. The leaves should be at peak color around those dates, so expect crowds. Alternatively stay the night at a ryokan in Nikko.

23. i would say kurama on the 27th is a bit too ambitious. however, if you can spare the time kurama and kibune (a stop before kurama on the eizan line) would be starting to have some lovely autumn leaves that time of year.
    if you like nightlife, i think you should explore dotonbori while in osaka as there are lots of interesting bars and eateries

    for the rural onsen, if you can go to nagano on the way then do it! shibu onsen area is a bit touristy but there are onsen/ryokans there with private onsen and the autumn leaves will be spectacular at that time

24. Great to see an American not pack their itinerary with Disneyland and all that weebu crap.

    If your into onsen and want to stay around Shinjuku I’d recommend the Onsen Ryokan Yeun Shinjuku. Brand new hotel with an awesome top floor Modern onsen overlooking the Shinjuku skyline.

    I think for your onsen stay where you are based probably something around Mount Fuji on the way back to Tokyo. There’s an abundance of hotels with private onsen views of Fuji but not cheap. If you were really keen on an onsen town I’d recommend Yamounchi outside of Nagano on the hills, all the ryokans in the small village share about 10 traditional onsens up and down this cute Japanese traditional village street and you wear traditional clothes walking around trying each one. Also the snow monkeys are just up the road. Sinkanesen goes to nagano so not hard to get too, but possibly out of your way on your current intinery.

    Also Ebisu Yokocho is our favourite place in Tokyo for food. It’s super cool, so many places, very few tourists and locals will interact with you, heaps of fun!

25. Looks like a very full but fun trip! Just curious, I was looking at travelling around this time also, have you booked flights already?