Hey Everybody,
My partner and I, along with some friends, are heading to Japan for the first two weeks of October! We're super excited but would love some recommendations and suggestions on our itinerary. Let us know if any of our days are overly packed or if there are must-see spots or activities we might be missing.
Arriving at Haneda airport at 6 am.
Check-in hotel: ~remm Roppongi~
DAY 1 – 30/09: ~SHINJUKU~
Morning
- Gyoen National Garden
- Godzilla head
Tokyo metropolitan government building (great views from the city)
Evening/night
Kabuki Cho district
Golden Gai
DAY 2 – 01/10: ~SHIBUYA/ HARAJUKU/ OMOTESANDO~
Morning
- Meiji Shrine. Get there around 7ish, less crowded
- Yoyogi park
- Walk around takeshita st, omotesando av
- Hachiko statue
Shibuya crossing
Evening/night
Shibuya sky, get there for sunset and night views
Dinner Nonbei Yokocho
DAY 3 – 02/10: ~GINZA~
Morning
Breakfast at: ~512 Cafe & Grill~ ~??~
Tokyo Station/ Pokemon center/ Kirby Cafe Tokyo Station/ Pokemon center/ Kirby CafeÂ
Imperial Palace
Uniqlo Store
Teamlabs Planet
Evening
Tokyo Tower (good to see at night too).
DAY 4 – 03/10: ~DAY TRIP TO KAMAKURA~ (short 1.30 hr trip from Shibuya station)Â
Might stay 1 night near Mt Fuji instead of doing Kamakura
DAY 5 – 04/10: ~DAY TRIP TO MT. FUJI~ (3hr aprox from Tokyo) Â
DAY 6 – 05/10: ~OSAKA~ (3hr aprox from Tokyo)Â
Morning
- Kuromon market
- Shinsekai
Nipponbashiy
Evening/ night
Dotonbori
DAY 7 – 06/10: ~OSAKA~
Morning
- Osaka castle
- Shitennoji temple
Tennoji Park
Evening
Dotombori again
DAY 8 – 07/10: ~UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, OSAKA~
Full day here. Park closes at 6:30/7:00pm
Recommended to have a game plan beforehand
DAY 9 – 08/10 : ~KYOTO~ (30-40 min from Osaka)Â
Check-in hotel:
must do:
- geisha costume
morning
Nishiki market
Yasaka Shrine
Kiyomizu-dera
Sannenzaka and ninenzaka streets
Kodai Temple
Ginkaku-ji
evening/ night
Pontocho alley, go to ~Lupicia~ x te
Kamo river
Gion district
DAY 10 – 09/10: ~KYOTO~Â
morning
- Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, secret bamboo grove/Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple
Monkey park
Kinkau-ji & Ryoan-ji
Imperial Palace
Nijo castle
Heian Jingu
Fushimi Inari Shrine, get there early around 7ish or after 5pm. Less crowded
DAY 11 – 10/10: ~DAY TRIP TO NARA~ (30 min from Kyoto)
- Nakatanidou mochi demo
- Deer park
- Kasuga Taisha
DAY 12 – 11/10: ~KANASAWA~ (2 – 3 hr from Kyoto)
Check-in hotel:
morning
- Omicho Market
- Oyama Shrine
- Gyokuseninmaru garden
- Kanazawa castle
DAY 13 – 12/10: ~TAKAYAMA~ (3,30 hr from Kanasawa)
- Hida Folk Village
- Shirakawa go
- Takayama old town
DAY 14 – 13/10: ~BACK TO TOKYO~ Â (5,30 – 6,30 hr from Takayama)Â
Mostly travelling,
free night
DAY 15 – 14/10: ~ASAKUSA/ UENO/ AKIHABARA~
Morning
- Senso-Ji Temple. Get there around 7ish, less crowded
- Nakamise street
- Walk by the Sumida river, Tokyo tower??
- Ueno park
- Ameyoko shopping district
Dog cafe (Akihabara)
Evening/night
Explore Akihabara (manga, anime, games)
DAY 16 – 15/10: FLIGHT BACK
Morning
Free, might do last minute shopping
Afternoon
5:00pm at Narita Airport – Flight at 8:00pm
by Awkward-Success4245
2 comments
With a 6 a.m. arrival in Tokyo, why don’t you just immediately go to Osaka or Kyoto?
Japanese hotels generally don;t do complimentary early check in, so you won’t be able to check into your hotel until about 3 pm unless you book the night before.
Some hotels do often very reasonable early check in rates though, like pay 1000 yen and check in at 1 p.m.
But otherwise, you are going to your Tokyo hotel at 7-8 a.m. and then having to store your bags and wander the streets jetlagged for 7 hours.
I’d recommend starting the trip in Osaka/Kyoto and then finishing in Tokyo.
If you are set on starting Tokyo, I’d recommend 4-5 nights in Tokyo to start the trip and then on the last day just take the train from Takayama or wherever right to the airport. You don’t need to split your Tokyo time into 2 separate visits with two hotel check ins/outs.
Kamakura is halfway to Mt. Fuji. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to go from Haneda to Shibuya to Kamakura back to Shibuya to Mt. Fuji. That’s a fair amount of backtracking.
You might want to stop in Kamakura and store nbags at the station and continue onward to Mt. Fuji rather than doubling back. You can also forward your large luggage from Tokyo to Osaka and just take an overnight bag to Kamakura/Mt. Fuji.
I’m not sure you’d need to go to three towers in Tokyo in your first three days. Unless you know the city well already, the views will all be spectacular, but you won’t be able to tell one from the next.
Also, on your day 2, you can skip Yoyogi Park, which is just a regular city park.