Hi. First time to Japan. I’ve booked return flights to Osaka arriving 8pm on the 11th of april and returning 10pm on the 4th of may. We were hoping to go to Osaka, koyasan, Nara, Kyoto, Nagoya Mount Fuji and Tokyo. I’ve been planning an itinerary and my god is there lots to do! Im only up to Nagoya and the days are all already filled up. Wondering what’s worth doing and what’s not worth doing on my current itinerary since if I want any chance of getting to Mount Fuji or Tokyo I’ll need to cut some things. Partially seems to take so long because there are so many shrines and temples in the itinerary. If they’re all unique then I’ll go to all of them but if not which ones to skip? Also not sure if I’m allowing too much or too little time for certain things? I am aware it is cherry blossom season so wanting to see lots of that and also I enjoy trains so will be travelling on lots of those. I want to be left feeling satisfied with where I’ve been and not feeling like I missed out on some things. Looking at travels blogs and such, most suggest 2 weeks is enough for Japan including Tokyo but I find that hard to believe given how much I’ve found to do just in Kansai and Nagoya. Basically what I’m asking is everything on this itinerary worth doing? Here is the very early itinerary based on doing most things in each city. Can shuffle things around if it makes sense. FYI I probably won’t actually use this itinerary, since I would like to make it to Tokyo and Mount Fuji, but it shows how many attractions there are and what I could’ve done if I had unlimited time.
11th April: land in Osaka and get train to city centre. (5 nights)
12th dotonbori, Namba Yasaka Jinja shrine Shitenno-ji temple, tongtiange, Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine, Isshin-ji Temple and abeno harukas
13th universal studios
14th Osaka castle, Osaka museum of history, Osaka Tenmangu Shrine and umeda sky building
15th Osaka expo park, mino falls katsuoji temple and cup noodles museum
16th Osaka aquarium and tempozan Ferris wheel. Afternoon train to koyasan (1 night)
17th koyasan temples, afternoon/evening train to kashihara (2 nights)
18th yoshino
19th omiwa jinja shrine, hasedera temple, tanzan jinja shrine, ishibutai tumulus, okadera temple, asuka-sera temple and fujiwara palace ruins. Afternoon/evening train to Nara (2 nights)
20th Nara downtown and Nara park temples, shrines and gardens.
21st heijō palace, toshodai-ji temple yakushi-ji temple and horyu-ji temple. Train to Kyoto (10 nights)
22nd Kyoto railway museum, tōji temple, jōnangū shrine, Kyoto tower, nishi hongan-ji temple, higashi hongan-ji temple samurai museum and tea ceremony.
23rd tōfuku-ji temple, fushimi inari taisha shrine, fushimi sake, Iwashimizu Hachimangu Shrine, Nintendo museum (due to open this autumn) and byodo-in temple
24th miyama day trip
25th arashiyama bamboo forest, monkey park, various temples, sagano tram and hozugawa river boat.
26th higashiyama area shrines and temples, manga museum
27th Mount hiei and biwako valley
28th Katsura imperial villa, saihōji kokedera temple Matsuo-taisha shrine, Toei Kyoto studio park, ninna-ji temple, ryōan-ji temple and kinkaku-ji temple
29th nijō castle, kitano-temmangū shrine, kyoto gyoen, Shimogamo Shrine, Kyoto botanic gardens Kamigamo Shrine, kifune shrine and kuramadera temple
30th temples and shrines around philophers path/southern sakyo
1st may otsu day trip, cruise omi jingu shrine, Ishiyamadera temple miho museum Lake Biwa museum hachiman-bori and hikone castle train to Nagoya (heard you can arrange baggage transfer between hotels, not sure how that works) (3 nights)
2nd may Nagoya
3rd may Nagoya
4th may Nagoya train back to Osaka for flight (haven’t really looked at what to do in Nagoya yet)
EDIT: Thank everyone for advise. Will replan the itinerary and post a new one in the next week or so.
by Game_Questioner