Me and a friend have planned the majority of a three week itinerary which is described briefly below. Happy to receive any feedback on that, but mostly curious to see advice on the last week of our trip (can skip to ****), thanks! August 10th-29th.
8/10 – Tokyo
Flight
Festival fireworks
8/11 – Tokyo
Senso-ji
Ueno
Akihabara
8/12 – Tokyo
Tsukiji
Borderless
8/13 – Kyoto
Arashiyama
Gion at night
8/14 – Kyoto
Kiyomizudera
Explore shrines
Nishiki market
8/15 – Kyoto/Nara/Osaka
Fushimi Inari
Nara
Dotonbori
8/16 & 8/17 – Osaka
America-mura
Osaka Castle
more laid back days
8/18 – Hakone
Open Air Museum
Stay at Ryokan
8/19 – Hakone & Tokyo
Ropeway
Boat ride/shrine and explore the lake
Head to Shinjuku
8/20 – Tokyo
Suga Shrine
Meiji Jingu, Shinjuku Gyoen
Shin Okubo
Shinjuku
8/21 – Tokyo
Shibuya and Harajuku (all major attractions)
8/22 – Tokyo (free day)
****Questions
Is there any real must see attraction in Osaka outside of the nightlife/foodie neighborhoods? I have seen the typical aquarium, etc. but if not definitely happy to just spend time exploring the city!
The major question my friend and I are unsure about is how to spend the 23rd-29th. Some of our options are below, but more than happy to take other ideas on what may be enjoyable:
Spend 2-3 days in Tokyo doing day trips to sites (Kamakura + Enoshima, Kawaguchi-go, and Nikko) and another 3 days driving around Hokkaido. We could also spend all the days in Hokkaido but didn't feel as strongly toward this.
Spend all days out of Tokyo doing day trips/exploring the city (previous + mount nokogiri, yokohama, etc.)
Do a road trip around Tohoku or Chubu prefecture (wasn't really sure where)
In case unclear, this is our first trip to Japan and so any additional resources that I may have missed or suggestions are really appreciated! For Hokkaido, for example, my friend isn't super interested in the lavender fields, but wanted to see Cape Kamui.
by tepiv
