Hello
My boyfriend and I are hoping to travel to Japan in July/ August for 2 weeks. It will be both our first time there. We are in our early 20’s and are both very active. We like to jam pack our holidays but is this itinerary too much? This will be the furthest I have ever flown so unsure how tired we will be when we arrive. I have heard that in July/August Japan is unbearably hot, we are from the UK so am also worried we will struggle.
A few questions,
Where is the best place to see Mt Fuji up close?,
Is the JR pass worth it for my itinerary?,
is there any places on my itinerary that I should skip?
Thank you so much
23rd – Arrive early morning
ASAKUSA,
Senso-Ji temple,
Imado shrine,
Tokyo Skytree,
Akihabara electric town,
24th
SHIBUYA,
Meiji Jingu,
Takeshita Dori,
Nintendo Tokyo and Pokémon centre,
Hachiko square,
Shibuya Sky,
Shibuya crossing
25th
Day trip Mt Fuji (Not sure where is best to go)
26th
Studio Ghibli Museum,
Inokshira park,
OR
Day trip to Nikko
27th
Disneysea
28th
Imperial palace?,
Train to Kyoto
KYOTO
28th
Fushimi Inari Shrine,
Gion
29th
Arashiyama,
Tenryuji temple,
Monkey park Iwatayama,
Kinkakuji temple,
30th
Sanjusangendo temple,
Nijo castle,
Kiyomizudera temple,
Train to Hiroshima,
HIROSHIMA
30th
Arrive evening,
Okonomimura
31st
Hiroshima peace memorial museum and gardens,
Atomic bomb dome,
Hiroshima castle,
1st
Ferry to Miyajima,
Itsukuashima shrine,
Ropeway,
Daisho In temple,
Ferry to Hiroshima,
Hiroshima Orizuru tower,
OSAKA
2nd
Train to Osaka arrive early morning,
Tsuyo-no-tenjinja shrine,
Osaka castle and park,
Shitennoji temple,
Namba yasaka shrine,
3rd
Train to Nara,
Kofuku-Ji temple,
Todai-ji temple,
Deer park,
Kasuga-Taisha,
Train to Osaka
4th
Universal studios Japan
5th
Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan,
Tempozan ferris wheel,
Sumiyoshi Taisha,
Food tour,
Explore Dotonbori
6th
Train to Kobe,
Ikuta shrine,
Nunobiki ropeway and gardens,
Kobe port tower,
Train to Osaka
7th
Flight back
3 comments
Your itinerary looks great, I’ve visited many of those places myself. Ghibli museum is fun, Nara and Gion are both stunning! Osaka Castle is nice.
Three tips:
1) Check if the places you need to go are JR lines. Lots of parts of the rail network are privatised and don’t accept JR pass. I felt this wasted my money as I only used it on a few of the inter-city trains, most local travel wasn’t E.g. your trains about Tokyo or Kyoto will probably be another company. When I went you paid by ‘Passmo’ card.
2) In Gion there’s a beautiful temple, lake and bamboo grove called Kodai-Ji which is all lit up and open to public at night to explore. Best experience I had in Japan!
3) If you have time check out Okunoin. Takes a while to get to from Kyoto/Nara but lovely temple, peaceful forest and town and a great train/tram ride up the mountain!
Have a great trip!
Generally not that bad. Some days might be a bit full,just enjoy what you are doing and do not rush, it is ok to not do everything.
Mount Fuji from Kawaguchiko or Hakone. Hakone can be a good stop on the way to Kyoto with a night in a ryokan.
You do not need a full day to reach Hiroshima, you can combine your two first Hiroshima days in one.
JR pass, yes 7 days when you leave from Tokyo up to when you get to Osaka.
Yes, summer is brutal, avoid if you can but if you go, check for festivals, that is THE reason to go in summer.
You are correct that July/Aug are incredibly hot and humid. If you’ve never experienced it before it can drain your energy pretty quickly. Kyoto in particular is pretty painful since it is inland. While your days are not too packed in Kyoto try to get things done in the early mornings or evenings to minimize the heat as much as possible.
Other than that seems like a reasonable itinerary. You could drop a day trip or two and tack on extra days in Kyoto, Osaka or Tokyo. On the other hand it is also good to get out of the major cities during the summer since the heat island effect amplifies the summer heat. If on your itinerary you run out of time in Tokyo you can skip Akihabara and go to Den Den town in Osaka. While Akiba is more iconic, if your goal is to shop for manga/anime goods Den Den Town is just as good.