Hello! My partner and I (29 & 27) found a flight deal for late October and have booked our first ever trip to Japan. We only have 8.5 days or so, which is less than we'd like, but we're very excited!
I'd love some feedback on our itinerary though. We're trying to keep it pretty loose, and spend a lot of time exploring on our feet. I've filled in our rough plan for every day. Is there anything on here we should skip? Anything vital we're missing? Are we giving Kyoto short-shrift by only spending one day there?
Day 0
Arrival
- Land in Tokyo @ 7pm, head to hotel in Akihabara
Day 1
Tokyo
- Akihabara
- Imperial Gardens – worth getting a tour?
- Ginza – shopping and food
- Yanaka Ginza maybe?
Day 2
Kyoto
- Early morning (7AM) Shinkansen to Kyoto
- Either leave bags at hotel or in station lockers and explore Kyoto
- Nijo Castle (very close to Hotel)
- Fushimi Inari Taisa
- Arashiyama, Kinkaku-Ji
- What is practical to see in 1 day without feeling super rushed?
Day 3
Himeji & Osaka (This was originally a full day in Osaka, but friends advised me that Himeji Castle was worth going out of our way to see)
- Morning train to Himeji
- Himeji Castle – worth going inside?
- Kokoen Gardens
- Is it worth spending the extra time to see Engyoji Temple? It would reduce our time in Osaka.
- Afternoon/Evening in Osaka. Focusing on Dotonburi
- Return to Kyoto at night
Day 4
Nara & Return to Tokyo
- Check out of Hotel, leave bag in station locker
- Train to Nara
- Nara Park
- Toda-Ji Temple
- Return to Kyoto for 7:16pm Shinkansen to Tokyo
- Check in to Hotel in Asakusa
Day 5
Explore Asakusa & Shibuya
- Senso-ji Temple
- Nakamise-Dori
- Skytree?
- Then head to Shibuya area and explore
Day 6
Odaiba & Shimokitazawa
- Teamlab Planets @ 9:30am
- Anything else worth seeing in Odaiba or Tokyo Bay area?
- Afternoon in Shimokitazawa, thrift & vintage stores
- Visit Gotokuji Shrine and find dinner in the area
Day 7
Day trip to Kamakura
- Kotoku-in
- Enoshima
- Return to Tokyo in the evening
- Shinjuku in the evening?
Day 8
Tokyo
Kind of a spare day right now for whatever area has caught our eye and we want to see more of.
Day 9
Departure
- Morning to explore, similar to previous day
- Depart Haneda at 4:40pm
by Hennahane
3 comments
Both Shimokitazawa and Gotokuji will be wastes of your time and are across town from Odaiba. (Shimokitazawa is good for live music, however.) Try Hamarikyu garden in the morning and Odaiba later.
Changing cities 6 times in 8 days sounds exhausting. I’d suggest focusing on the places that interest you the mostÂ
Your Kyoto shcedule is definitely very hard to achieve, and I am not sure you’ll even enjoy the places you mention.
But depends on what you are more interested in. Of you are big on temples and cultural sights, spend an extra day in Kyoto. If you prefer shopping, Tokyo is for you.