2 Week Trip-Rough Itinerary #1- Feedback requested

7 comments

1. How much if day 1 is going to be going into shops and shopping? If you might only check out a couple shops, you might be able to move Asakusa or Akiba to day 1 and do dinner there. Akihabara is amazing at night for the lights, and Asakusa is cool at night because it’s not as busy, and there’s still a ton of little places to eat.

   Day 2 is going to be a lot of train travel, going from Ghibli to the east side of the city. When I went there, I found myself wanting to stop back at my hotel around 3-4pm after being out somewhere in the morning. Then I’d head to the neighborhood where I was having dinner and do some sightseeing there. You could break up day 1 with the morning at Meiji and Harajuku, take a break in your hotel, and then try to hit Asakusa or Akiba at night for dinner?

   Nothing “wrong” with the Tokyo part, just some thoughts. You should try to walk around Shinjuku at night on day 1! Kabukicho at night is a special experience even if you don’t actually go into any building.

2. I’ll assume things are not in order as day one it make more sense to pass by Takeshita street to go to Omotesando.

   If I could, I would not do Ghibli, Senso-ji and Akihabara on the same day as Ghibli is not on the same side of the city, but considering you do not have an extra day in Tokyo, then ok I guess, that is if you can get first entry to Ghibli museum.

   Do you plan to go to Kyoto at the end of day 5? If yes, I would personally go to Kamakura on that day. Why ? Because Kawaguchiko to Kyoto is not the most optimal, first option is to trackback toward Tokyo to go to Shin-Yokohama, takes about 2 hour and 2 or 3 train. or take a bus to Mishima (and the timing is usually not that good). On the other hand, Kamakura to Shin-Yokohama is 2 train and only 40 minutes. If you ask me, it make much more sense to go from Kamakura than from Kawaguchiko. And yes it make sense to go at the end of the day, you will likely not leave Kamakura that late, like after an early dinner or eat in the train. At least you have a full day in the morning for Kyoto as you are already there.

   Kyoto, I would recommend to stay around Gion, Kawaramachi and sanjo, so it will be easy to do things like Gion or Pontocho at the end of any day and even Nishiki market on any morning, for example the morning of Kibune hike.

   Kodai-ji should be changed to day 6 as it is between Kiyomizu-dera and Yasaka-jinja. does not make much sense to return in the same area.

   For Osaka it would make most sense to stay somewhere close to Namba station as it is central and well connected.

   For the Hiroshima day trip, would make sense to get the [Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass](https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/kansai_hiroshima/) and use the JR Haruka to go to the airport.

3. Whats your overall budget for this trip?

4. On Day 12, everything you listed with Hiroshima is in the one area, but it’s a doable day trip from Osaka, and it’s worth seeing. You could possibly stop in Himeji in between, Himeji has the best castle in Japan, Kobe could be another stop.

   I’d include Shinjuku on one of the nights you’re in Tokyo, that’s where I stayed when I was in Toyko, I loved it there

   Apart from that, looks pretty good.

   Some things to research for your trip:

   * Look into rail passes. For the length of your trip, it’ll probably be worth buying regional passes rather than a nationwide JR pass. It’s also worth buying a Suica or Icoca card for getting around on public transport in cities. You can pre-purchase one before arriving or you can buy one there.
   * Look into banking. Get a foreign currency card and look for one with decent exchange rates and low fees. Also bare in mind that Japanese banks generally don’t accept foreign ATM cards and their ATMs don’t operate 24/7 for some reason. Convenience store ATMs are usually a safe option, 7-Eleven ATMs accept foreign cards and they are *everywhere* in Japan. Just remember that EFTPOS and paywave aren’t common and cash is still frequently used, I’d take out about 10,000 yen a day
   * Look into internet access. The two options are buying a local SIM card or renting a WiFi router. You can do either at the airport you arrive at. I did the latter, rented a router, and then I just posted it back when I was done.
   * The two kanji characters you *really* should know are male 男 and female 女, this is so you don’t walk into the wrong toilet, there’s also women only train carriages
   * Just generally keep an eye on the situation in Japan. The country isn’t open to tourism at the moment and it’s uncertain when it will be again. Things can change with Covid quickly, though case numbers in Japan have plummeted recently.

5. Nishiki market closes pretty early. Go there for breakfast IMO. Kiyomizudera doesn’t get mobbed like kinkakuji or fushimi Inari.

   Also, arashiyama to me was… Overrated? Cool area but it was just a lot of tourists in a city park, kinda. And it’s kinda far from the city. Definitely go but expect to spend more time walking around the river and the town area.

   Also, IMO the Teamlabs exhibits are worth going to. I did Borderless, and I plan on doing Planets if it is available when I come back. Odaiba is pretty cool to wander around in, too, and the rainbow Bridge is very nice to see at night.

   Hasadera was probably my favorite temple in Japan, tied with the quieter bits of Fushimi Inari.

6. Day 7 in Kyoto looks very busy. I think you’d be hard pressed to really be able to enjoy each place. I’d move Pontocho or wander around Gion to day 8 after your hike.

7. Apologies if this has already been asked but do these days take into consideration travel days/time? Even if Kyoto is only a few hours away from Tokyo the time it takes packing and transporting suitcases, waiting at the station for the shinkansen (DO NOT get there last minute in case you have trouble finding your platform.) then getting to your new lodging and dropping off your things (or leaving them in a locker at the station until you can check in later meaning you have to go back for them) all takes up extra time that really adds up quickly.

   You can of course totally still sight see and do fun things on travel days but I do highly suggest trying to keep things simpler when possible on travel days. Like focusing on things closer to where you are staying if you drop off your luggage when you arrive or closer to the station/easy to get back to the station if you put them in the lockers.

   ​

   Also, keep in mind what day of the week you’ll be doing each activity. You’ll of course need to do some locations on weekends but when possible try to do the activities that are less popular or sought after. You already clearly know the trick of getting to places as early as possible to avoid crowds but alas there are only so many mornings and evenings.

   ​

   For Osaka it sadly looks like you won’t have time but if for some reason one of the places listed is closed or you don’t feel like going to it I highly suggest the “Osaka Museum of Housing and Living”. With my group, it was our favourite part of Osaka, even more than Osaka Castle and Universal Studios which we also went to during our few days in Osaka. Not knowing your group I cant say if it would be your thing but I can say its worth the time to give their website a glance to see if anything there strikes your interest.

   ​

   For Osaka, it sadly looks like you won’t have time but if for some reason one of the places listed is closed or you don’t feel like going to it I highly suggest the “Osaka Museum of Housing and Living”. With my group, it was our favourite part of Osaka, even more than Osaka Castle and Universal Studios which we also went to during our few days in Osaka. Not knowing your group I cant say if it would be your thing but I can say its worth the time to give their website a glance to see if anything there strikes your interest.