Hi! We are a group of 4 adults going to Japan for the first time this October. We will be staying in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Kanazawa (3 weeks total).
This is the itinerary we imagine for Tokyo and Fuji. We are ready to walk a lot and we like to explore, so we are open to deviations and improvisations if we feel like it.
Please feel free to judge it or even add recommendations on top of it.
Friday 5th
- Arrival in Japan. Just taking time to recover from the trip and get the IC cards, esim etc
We are staying in APA Hotel Pride in Akasaka so nothing specific is planned except going around Akasaka for dinner.
Saturday 6th, start of the real activities:
Tokyo Free walking tour (tokyolocalized) of about 3h around Akhibahara and Ueno
Ueno Park, Ueno Tokyo National Museum
Yanaka, Tennoji Temple (we will probably have to skip this if there is not enough time)
Go to Asakusa to walk around
Tea ceremony with kimono rental in Maikoya at 17h
Senso-ji Temple will probably be closed this late but I read it is beautifully illuminated in the evening and worth seeing.
Sunday 6th
- Odaiba area, Toyosu fish market is closed on sundays so we have to skip it
- Teamlabs Planets
- Tsukiji Fish market
- Ginza & shopping
- Oedo Antique market
- Go to Shinjuku in the evening
- Kabuchiko
- Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
Monday 7th:
- Kamakura
- Yokohama
Tuesday 8th: (Shibuya)
- Meiji Jingu Temple
- Harajuku
- Shibuya
- Shibuya Sky or Tokyu Plaza Shibuya for the nigh view of the city.
Wednesday 9th:
- Last minute shopping
- Checkout and forward luggage to next hotel in Kyoto
- Go to Shinjuku for the rest of the day
- Take the Highway bus in Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal at 20h15 towards Fuji
- Late check-in at Fuji-Kawaguchiku Ryokan/Onsen
Thursday 10th
- See the Chureito Pagoda (as early as possible)
- Full day exploring the area on rental bikes
- Ride around the lake
- Walk up the panoramic ropeway.
- Visit Oshino Hakkai
- Kaiseki dinner at Ryokan
- Relax in Onsen for the rest of the evening.
Friday 11th
- Take the highway bus to Mishima
- Take the shinkansen in Mishima towards Kyoto to continue the rest of the trip.
So far the only things booked are the plane tickets and hotels. I will probably book all the rest this week.
Thanks for your comments and critiques!
by Mauro_dv
10 comments
Any specific reason you want to go to yokohoma?
It’s nice but with 5 days in tokyo it’s definitely skippable. Akihabara is very very cool and worth a visit. Shimokitazawa is very trendy and has a lot of live music in the evenings. I’d prioritize these areas over yokohoma.
I think day 1 – adding shinjuku to the evening might be a bit too much
Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Thursday have too many activities in them. Tokyo is a city that opens late (with 10 AM or 11 AM being common shop-opening times) and closes early (with 8 PM or 9 PM being typical closing times, except for restaurants and bars). You’re going to be in an unfamiliar country in an exceedingly visually and logistically complex city without benefit of being able to read many signs or, for that matter, maps (or so I presume, but if you can read Chinese it will help some).
Choose one central or main activity for each morning and each later afternoon, and you’ll find many other things to see and do as you travel to reach your main activity spot.
hi man!
* Shinjuku in the evening, Kabukicho, Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, Harajuku, and Shibuya are all located close to each other. It’s better to visit these spots before heading to Kamakura/Yokohama so you don’t need to spend a lot of travel time
* Since you’re going to stay 4 days at Tokyo i do recommend Tokyo Metro Pass to explore the city, its a lot cheaper than only rely on SUICA
Asakusa is pretty nice at night, I went there on 6th. There’s a very nice steakhouse as well but I forgot the name 🥴
For ueno and akibahara you definitely will need more than 3 hours. I stayed in ueno and spent a whole day there especially in the park .. be aware tho, the museum is closing at 5 pm .. in general stuff is closing pretty early and opening pretty late in Japan 😄
For me, I just walked around with no plan at all. 🥴
Kamakura is great to be honest, but if you’re going to Kyoto it’s probably just more of the same, though crowd might be better since it’s a Monday. Yokohama is one of those place that’s great to live in, and minatomirai is beautiful but if you only have a few days in Tokyo, I definitely think it’s easier and more enjoyable to just be around Tokyo (and I say this as someone who loved living in Yokohama and enjoyed going to Kamakura).
That being said, if you’re flying back out from Tokyo and you’ll be in Tokyo for another day or two at the tail end of the trip, it does changes a bit more in terms of what’s doable. What might be helpful too is to say what the group is interested in, if it’s just purely exploration for temples and shrines, then akihabara may not be too enticing, similar to Ueno, which is nice and peaceful around the park but I probably won’t be visiting too many museums on my first trip to Japan for one.
Odaiba area also looks amazing at night, so maybe spending the whole day starting from Asakusa in the morning making your way over to toyosu, teamlabs then odaiba also makes sense? There’s a lot of flexibility here!
the shops around sensoji are closed late at night but the grounds are open 24/7, I prefer them late at night.
Make Shibuya sky evening and Team labs reservations now. They usually sell out first
Just so you know, APA is a big supporter of ultra-right, ultra-nationalist movements. Your staying there may (or may not) add a few yen in their pockets.
So short but have a great trip