Hi JapanTravel Community,
Have been lurking on this platform for a while and am now planning my own trip to Tokyo with my wife this August. It has been crazy how much information there has been to sift through on this forum while putting together an itinerary. We have only just discovered that my wife is pregnant, and will be at about four months pregnant when we're there. I'm aware that it will be crazily hot in Tokyo in August, but we booked it thinking it would be doable before all the pregnancy news. Nevertheless, we're determined to make the most of it (and mostly turn it into an eating/chill shopping trip with some sightseeing). We'll try to plan eating at odd hours to avoid crowds where possible, I'm sure she wouldn't want to be standing around in a queue. Would appreciate if the experts here could provide some insights and feedback on the itinerary, along with any recommendations that would be great for us.
It will be my wife's first time in Japan, so would like to take her to explore the famous bits of Tokyo. My wife has primarily said she wants to eat like a local, so I guess that entails exploring a lot of small alleys around tokyo.
Day 1: Arrival at Haneda
Arrive at Haneda in the morning -> Take the limousine bus to Keio Plaza Hotel if we can catch it, Metro otherwise -> Spend an easy day around Shinjuku -> Would probably take her to try Shin Udon, Gyukatsu Motomura, and Omoide Yokocho.
Day 2: Ginza
Find a breakfast place around Shinjuku (Shinpachi Shokudo maybe) -> Head to Ginza -> Coffee at Glitch and Lunch at Hanayama Udon -> Explore Ginza (seeing the main thoroughfare and doing some shopping) then head back to the hotel.
Day 3: Harajuku and Shibuya
Grab breakfast at a convenient place (maybe Aaliya) -> Meiji Jingu Gyoen and Yoyogi Park -> Harajuku -> Back to hotel to rest -> Shibuya in the evening (Maybe Toritake for a more izakaya style dinner)
Day 4: Odaiba
Eggslut breakfast -> rest or easy walk around Shinjuku -> Teamlab planets in Odaiba -> maybe catch sunset over Tokyo Bay then head back
Day 5: Omotesando Hills
This day is the day that's pretty empty. Originally we'd planned to go to DisneySea but scrapped it after the pregnancy news. Thinking of just taking a slow day in Omotesando, doing some vintage shopping either here or going to Koenji
Day 6 – 8: Fuji
Taking a short trip to Fujikawaguchiko since the wife wanted a ryokan style stay. We'll be staying at Konansou since it was one of the nicer ones that was still available when we were making bookings. If anyone has other ideas about around the area, it'll be much appreciated!
On the evening of Day 8, we'll be back in Tokyo and might head to Roppongi for a nice slow walk, some nice city views and a nice (unknown) dinner.
Day 9: Asakusa
Ueno Park in the Morning, then going to Sensoji and Nakamise Dori later in the day. We'll be staying around the temple, so timings are quite flexible. Are there any eateries where I should go to secure a queue number early in the day?
Day 10: Akihabara and Tokyo Skytree
Exploring Akihabara (perhaps?). Neither of us are large anime fans or anything, so actually unsure if Akihabara is still worth it. Try to catch sunset views at Tokyo Skytree in the evening.
My take: It feels like the itinerary is pretty empty, but I also wouldn't want to stuff it too much as I'm unsure how comfortable my wife will be then, considering she'll be pregnant and it'll be hot. If anyone has ideas on how I can explore each of the areas more deeply, and integrate some rest stops, they'll be much appreciated!
by luminarae1