Hi!
My BF and I will be traveling to Japan in October, from Oct 12-28. He's been to Japan briefly before but I've never been, so I'm trying to add a bit of everything.
I'm mostly worried about being over ambitious and not considering enough local transportation. I've grouped together activities that looked close on a map, but I've noticed that some areas are under renovation/commute times vary, so I would like some help figuring out if this makes sense.
I also have yet to find a mixed gender private onsen that can be accessed as a day-pass thing without having to stay the night at a Ryokan.
Help appreciated! Thank you!
TRAVEL: Oct 11 11:20 MT DEN > Narita Oct 12 2:45 pm
TOKYO
Hotel stay 1: The B Akasaka Oct 12 – Oct 17
Day 1: Oct 12
– arrive
– check in hotel
– grab dinner in the Akasaka area
Day 2: Oct 13
– breakfast at hotel
– Sensoji temple in the morning
– Nakamise Dori Street (street food and souvenirs)
– Kappabashi Kitchen Tools street (buy some ceramics and knife souvenirs?)
– Hoppy Street at night
– In the area: Suzukien Asakusa – 7 level matcha, Chacha Futatsume
Day 3: Oct 14
– breakfast at hotel
– Tsukiji Market early
– TeamLabs Oct 14 10-10:30 JST (3.5 hours)
– Fuji TV building
– Life Sized Unicorn Gundam
– Wander through Daiba Itchome Sutengai (retro Japan)
– Joypolis (arcade center)
– In the area: Atelier Matcha
Day 4: Oct 15
– breakfast at hotel
– Meiji Jingu Shrine (45 mins-1 hour)
– Shinjuku Gyoyen National Garden (2-3 hours)
– Explore shinjuku all afternoon
– Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai at night
– in the area: The Matcha Tokyo Shinjuku, Pretty Pork Factory – KATSU
Day 5: Oct 16
– breakfast at hotel
– Hie Shrine
– Ghibli Museum (make reservations)
– Harmonica Yokocho – cute stores
– Nakano Broadway – for anime shopping
Day 6: Oct 17
– breakfast at hotel
– Gotokuji Temple (go super early. Plan to do 1.5 hours to go there, see the area and come back)
– checkout from hotel
– shinkansen to Osaka (Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka is 2.5-3 hours)
– check in in Osaka
– walk around Osaka and have dinner
– Restaurants in the area: Chibo Okonomiyaki
OSAKA
Hotel Stay 2: The B Osaka Oct 17 – Oct 21
**It's two reservations. The first one is for Oct 17-18, and the other one is Oct 18-21 because we fucked up
Day 7: Oct 18 (Universal)
– grab breakfast somewhere in Osaka
– Universal Studios Japan
Day 8: Oct 19 (Nara)
– grab breakfast somewhere in Osaka
– Day trip to Nara
– Kasuga Taisha
– Nara Park
– Todaiji
– Restaurants in the area: Maguro Koya
Day 9: Oct 20
– grab breakfast somewhere in Osaka
– Namba Yasaka Shrine
– explore Dotonbori
– Orange Street
– Shinsekai Market
– see the Ghibli statue in ShinsaiBashi Parco building
– Restaurants in the area: Riceball Onigiri Gorichan
Day 10: Oct 21
– grab breakfast somewhere in Osaka
– Osaka Castle
– Osaka Castle Park
– check out from Osaka hotel
– Shinkansen to Kyoto (15 – 30 mins)
– check in in Kyoto
– Explore Pontocho Alley/Restaurant Row in Kyoto
KYOTO
Hotel Stay 3: Sotetsu Fresa Inn Kyoto Oct 21 – Oct 24
Day 11: Oct 22
– breakfast at hotel
– Fushimi Inari Taisha
– walk around Gion
– festival in Kyoto Jidai Matsuri from Kyoto Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine (4.5 km length, starts at 12 pm and lasts 5 hours)
– walk around Heian Shrine and Imperial Palace as the parade goes on
– Matcha Ceremony
Day 12: Oct 23
– breakfast at hotel
– Kinkakuji or Arashiyama Forest in the morning
– Kinkakuji or Arashiyama (whichever wasn't first)
– explore Nishiki market
Day 13: Oct 24 (Ghibli Park)
– breakfast at hotel
– check out from hotel
– Shinkansen to Nagoya (36-45 mins)
– Ghibli Park Nagoya Oct 24
– check in Tokyo
TOKYO
Hotel Stay 4: remm Roppongi Oct 24 – Oct 28
Day 14: Oct 25 (Hakone)
-breakfast in hotel
– day trip to Hakone
– Open Air Museum
– Tori Gates
– try to reserve a private mixed gender onsen
– Restaurants to try: Hakone Teramisu
Day 15: Oct 26 (SHOPPING)
– breakfast in hotel
– Ueno
– Akihabara
– Pokemon Cafe??? (Make reservations)
– Pokemon Center
– Yanaka Ginza
Day 16: Oct 27 (SHOPPING)
– breakfast in hotel
– Shibuya Crossing
– Hachiko Square
– Shibuya Sky (make reservations)
Day 17: Oct 28
– breakfast in hotel
– checkout from hotel
– save our bags in storage?
– go to airport
TRAVEL: Oct 28 5:30 pm JST Narita > Oct 28 1:10 pm MT
by Arctic_lionness21