Hi all,
I got so much great assistance from this board so I wanted to give back to the community. I (34F) travelled to Japan solo in May with a week on the ground (9 days including travel) from Australia, so no jet lag. I packed in a lot – I have a family with young kids at home and this was a once in a lifetime opportunity so wanted to make the most of it. For those not travelling solo the itinerary is likely less realistic, but worked great for me. I spent approximately 400,000yen for the 7 days including flights and accommodation, and approximately 100,000 of that was on souvenirs and gifts. I walked at least 30,000 steps each day (with the exception of day 1 which was around 25k + a 17km bike ride).
Day 1 – Arrive 5:30am Haneda, Tokyo (Fri)
- Flew into T1, but arrived a little early and had zero lines through immigration etc so decided to travel by free shuttle bus to T3 to pick up a Welcome Suica. This ended up being so worth it and making life easy.
- Train to Higashi-Ginza, drop off bags. Explore Tsukiji. I recommend Tsukiji Uogashi building for food rather than the markets themselves, significantly cheaper, you can take your meal to the rooftop.
- Coffee from Turret Coffee – a standout for coffee (latte) lovers).
- eBike tour by Compass bikes – I am not a huge fan of tours but this was great way to see a lot in a few hours and I really loved Fukagawa Fudou-dō temple which had a walkway inside that felt like it was designed by TeamLabs (no photos allowed unfortunately)
- Back to Higashi-Ginza, picked up my bags and went to check in to my hotel, Dormy Inn Ueno, which was perfectly located (I loved staying in this area).
- On to the Sumo Tournament for which I had purchased tickets through buysumotickets. I think my whole section had as they were all foreigners, haha! I loved this, a really different experience.
- Explored Ameyokocho before calling it a night.
Day 2 – Tokyo (Sat)
- Up bright and early at 3am. Went to the sento, still couldn't sleep after so took the first train of the day to Asakusa. Explored Senso-ji without crowds. Back to Ueno station where I purchased tickets for the shinkansen the next day. It looks like the line gets busy so this was a good idea to do early.
- Explored Ueno park, Nippori, Ueno by foot.
- Back to hotel to get ready for the day, and out around 8:30am.
- Train to Yoyohi where I got a coffee at Dimlight Espresso then walked through Yoyogi park/Meiji shrine area towards Takeshita St. By now it was around 10:30am and most shops online looked like they didn't open until 11am but most did seem open. I bought some socks at Tabio and then a Harajuku special crepe from Godiva on Meiji-Dori Ave (so good!).
- Walked up Cat St which I loved and was much less busy than the rest of Harajuku and Shibuya. Got some sweets from Number Sugar. On to Shibuya via Miyashita Park. Shopped throughout Shibuya, but it honestly wasn't my favourite as there was just so much choice and so many people. It didn't feel unique to me (ie could have been in any country).
- Train to Akihabara, which was also very busy but felt more unique. I loved Yellow Submarine where I got some board games that are made in Japan but had English instructions, and did some other light shopping for my boys.
- Back to my hotel to rest and eat some gyoza I got on my way from the train station, before heading out for a 7pm localised tour of Shinjuku. Again this was good, but I think limiting doing tours works best for me as I can't take the slow pace, haha!!
Day 3 – Matsumoto, Kiso, Tsumago
- I took the shinkansen to Nagano in gran class which was truly amazing and worth the additional cost. I had the carriage to myself so a personal attendant, meal, slippers included and comfy reclining chair. Then took a train from Nagano to Matsumoto.
- Explored Matsumoto Castle then did a tour at Ishii miso (this was OK, but a bit more of an explanation rather than tour) and visited the Art Museum (this was good for a quick visit even for someone with passing art interest).
- On to Kiso for lunch and to explore, loved the foot bath. Train to Nagiso, where I walked the Nakasendo to my minshuku in Tsumago, Daikichi. Tsumago was just lovely, the people living there are just a wonderful community. Daikichi was incredible. Had a wonderful dinner and breakfast and highly recommend this sort of accommodation.
Day 4 – Tsumago, Magome, Osaka
- Left at 7.30am after breakfast as the weather was not great and more rain was planned as the day progressed. Loved the tea house on the way to Magome. Got in to Magome around 10am, grabbed a coffee from Hillbilly coffee and walked to Chuodo Magome to get a bus as it was a better schedule than the bus from Magome to Nakatsugawa. I don't recommend this as it was a roadhouse with only locals and felt a bit awkward haha. But, it all worked well and was actually a really comfortable trip to Nagoya.
- I decided to take the slower Kintetsu Ltd Express from Nagoya to Osaka-Namba, as it was direct, and I could book a premium seat again which was a great place to rest on a rainy day. The premium seat on the Hinotori was incredible comfy (perhaps more so than the shinkansen?) and had a seat warmer function.
- Explored Kuromon market, Sennichimae Doguyasuji for kitchenware, Ota St, DenDen Town, Dotonbori. Took two trains to my hotel in Kyoto, Hotel Aru. Again this was a fab hotel in a really great location, and the room was much nicer and newer than the Dormy Inn (although no sento).
- Did some washing and crashed.
Day 5 – Kyoto in the rain
- There was a Typhoon in the Philippines today which brought with it significant rain. I had originally planned Nara but with flooding and rain inundation warnings thought I would stick close to my hotel instead.
- Walked to Sentido for a coffee, then on to Kyoto Gyoen National Garden and the Kyoto Imperial Palace. This wasn't in my original itinerary but I really enjoyed it and the audio guide was really well done (and all free!). Another coffee in School Bus Coffee Stop.
- Spent the rest of the day exploring the undercover shopping streets, department stores, Nishiki markets. Loved the Daimaru basement food court, the staff here were especially polite with every single one bowing and greeting me as I walked past.
- Back to my hotel to dry off my feet after they had been wet for the past 14 hrs. The rain had finally eased off so I then headed out at night to explore Yasaka shrine and Gion. I saw a Maiko (who unfortunately looked quite distressed, clearly still getting harassed by tourists!).
Day 6 – Kyoto
- Today I made up for lost time and fit in a LOT. More than I would like realistically, I would have loved more time in Uji and Nara, I would definitely like to spend more time in that region if/when I return to Japan.
- Train to Fushimi Inari, at 5:30am it was still quiet, at 6:30am it was already getting busy. I made the call at the halfway lookout point that I could probably squeeze Nara in if I left then, and tbh Fushimi Inari wasn't a standout for me.
- Grabbed some breakfast at the konbini while I waited for a train to Nara. I loved Nara. Not so much the deer, or Todai-ji (both were good) but the forest beyond and places like Todaiji Nigatsudo, Kasuga Taisha. I loved taking paths where there were no other tourists.
- On to Uji – bought several bags of matcha and sencha, some matcha treats, explored Byodo-in and had a matcha parfait at Tsuen overlooking the river. I would have loved to stay here longer but had a tour booking for 2pm on the other side of Kyoto (but an easy trip due to being on the same line)
- 2pm tour at Matsui sake, a tiny sake house in Kyoto. The tour was great and I loved their anime branding and innovative tasting system.
- The weather today was SO amazing and I really loved this area (Sakyo ward) so hired a bike from emusica edmachiyanagi and travelled north along Kamo River, exploring some temples along the way, having something to eat by the river. Rode to Circus Coffee which had the most lovely staff and I loved the branding. Explored some shopping streets, then on to Philosophers Path and returned the bike around 7:30pm.
- Got a massage at ボディケアボディ 三条河原町店 which was so cheap and so good. Had a 40 min wait so I went to Donki and bought a suitcase for all my extra shopping (had travelled carry-on only). After my massage I packed and crashed.
Day 7 – Kyoto, Inuyama
- Got up and took the train to Kiyomizu (could have walked but my legs were sore!), then walked up to Kiyomizu-dera. I wasn't sure if I would like it as I was disappointed with Fushimi Inari but it was simply spectacular.
- Explored Higashiyama then enjoyed a zen meditation session at Ryosoku-in. This was a great experience!
- Back to my hotel to change and check out then lunch at Roan Kikunoi, my Michelin restaurant (**) for the trip and a wonderful meal and experience.
- Went and grabbed my bags from the hotel, taxi to train station, shinkansen to Nagoya and train to Inuyama.
- Inuyama was a gorgeous little town. Nagoya has a lot less foreign visitors, and there were few signs, train announcements etc in English. I actually didn't see a non-Asian person my whole time in Nagoya (including in the airport the next day). The castle here was gorgeous and I loved the town, a great slower pace to end my trip.
Day 8 – Chubu airport
- There is a train without changes to chubu airport from Inuyama. Unfortunately, I had miscalculated my remaining yen so was 200 yen short for the limited express, so had to take the commuter which meant standing for 1 hr in a crowded train. The ltd express would have been better but I didn't want to get out 10,000 yen just for the train and I wasn't sure whether I could use card at the airport for fare adjustment (I could have, it turned out).
- The airport was super clean and easy and not too busy. I had used points to fly SQ business which was a luxurious end to a truly incredible trip.
Feel free to reach out with any questions!
by foodaussie