Too ambitious itinerary for 4 Days in Tokyo, 2 in Kyoto, and 3 in Osaka?

Hi everyone, my partner and I are heading to Japan in a couple of months and we are trying to iron out our daily plans, but worry we might be being a little bit too ambitious as there is a lot we would like to see. The breakdown of our plans is:

Tokyo: (hotel in Shinjuku)

  • Arrive Day: arrive at Haneda and make our way towards the hotel
  • Tokyo Day 1:
    • Meiji Jingu
    • Yoyogi Park
    • Shibuya Scramble
    • Shibuya Sky
  • Tokyo Day 2:
    • Ueno Park
    • Senso-ji Temple
    • Asakusa
    • Tokyo Skytree
    • Night: explore Shinjuku area around hotel
  • Tokyo Day 3:
    • teamLab Planets
    • Maybe Imperial Palace Grounds
    • Explore Ginza
    • Night: Tokyo Bay River Boat Dinner Cruise which boards at Hinode Pier
  • Tokyo Day 4: Day trip to Hakone
    • Take the romance car to Hakone leaving around 730ish
    • Do Hakone loop (still trying to decide to go CW or CCW)
    • Visit an Onsen near Hakone Yumuto station then head back to tokyo after dinner.

Kyoto: (hotel near Nishiki Market)

  • Day 1:
    • Take Shinkansen and arrive in Kyoto at around 11:00 am
    • Go to Nijo Castle
    • Maybe Kyoto Gyoen National Garden
    • Nishiki Market
  • Day 2: Booked a guided tour as we figured this was the best way to see so many sights in our limited time in Kyoto
    • Guided tour stops at: Kiyomizu-dera temple, sanjusangendo temple, arashiyama, bamboo forest, tenryu-ji temple, kinkakuji temple, and fushimi inari-taisha shrine

Osaka: (hotel in Umeda)

  • Day 1:
    • Arrive in Osaka at 9:00ish am
    • Go to Osaka Castle
    • Go to Osaka Aquarium
    • Night: Either explore Umeda near hotel or go to Dotonbori
  • Day 2:
    • Morning: Universal Studios Japan
    • Afternoon/Night: Umeda Sky building and explore Umeda
  • Day 3:
    • Morning: Head to Nara
    • Evening: Explore either Umeda or Dotonbori (whichever we didn't do on Osaka day 1)
  • Day 4: Go home 🙁

It has already been hard to get down to this list as there is so much that we want to do and see, but I fear this still may be a bit over-ambitious. We are looking to find a balance of seeing and experiencing as much as we can while not feeling like we are just rushing from place to place. Any insights, critiques, and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

by rosh200

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