My friend and I are visiting Japan in November, from the 13th through the 30th. We’re going to purchase the JR rail pass if possible to get the most out of our transportation fees. Without further ado, here’s the 18 day itinerary:
Day 1: Land in Narita airport in Tokyo and chill out the rest of the night, possibly visit Tsutaya, Shibuya Crossing, and the Shibuya 109 top floor outlook
Day 2: Full day in Akihabara and Nakano Broadway (also points of interest would be Super Potato, Mandarake, HMV Record Shop, Tower Records, Yodobashi Camera, Book Off, Don Quijote, Sofmap, Village Vanguard, any animal cafe, etc.)
Day 3: Visit Senso-ji Temple, Ueno Park, and Meiji Jingu outdoor shrine in Tokyo
Day 4: Extra day in Tokyo (explore extra parts of Tokyo like Harajuku fashion district, Shinjuku district, Omote Sando, Ginza district, etc.)
Day 5: Head to Nara to explore the deer park, Todai-ji Temple, and Kasuga-taisha shrine
Day 6: Visit Osaka, Dotonbori street, and the Osaka Castle, possibly visit Universal Studios if time permits
Day 7: Extra day in Osaka (explore extra parts of Osaka like Ichiran Ramen, Namba Yasaka Shrine, Amerikamura youth fashion district, Shinsekai neon lit neighborhood, Shinsaibashi shopping district, etc.)
Day 8: Arrive in Kyoto and enjoy our stay at the Fushimi Inari Taisha orange gate shrine and the Kiyomizu-dera Orange Temple
Day 9: Spend another day in Kyoto, this time early to go to the Arashiyama bamboo grove, Tenryu-ji Temple, Senko-ji Temple, Iwatayama Monkey Park, and the Kinkakuji Golden Pavilion Temple
Day 10: Extra day in Kyoto (explore extra parts of Kyoto like Gion entertainment district, Nanzen-ji Temple, Eikan-do Temple, Tofuku-ji Temple, etc.)
Day 11: Visit Kinosaki for a relaxing time at the onsens
Day 12: Head to Hiroshima to see the Peace Memorial Park, Atomic Bomb Dome, and Miyajima Island if time permits
Days 13-16 are up in the air and I would like to open it up to anyone to make a call if you feel that we should spend an extra day anywhere I mentioned before or explore a new area that is on the way of this trip, we can open up days before in the itinerary too as they are flexible as of now (also question, is 4 days in Tokyo and Kyoto enough to see everything in both those cities?).
Day 17: Return to Tokyo for the last day back
Day 18: Return back home
If you have any feedback on how to best improve this itinerary or how to spend the extra days in a way that makes sense with this itinerary, please let me know! I’m eager to hear some input on this so my second time to Japan can be a memorable experience. Thank you in advance!
6 comments
It is my opinion that Hiroshima is worth 2 nights especially if doing a day trip to Miyajima.
Don’t have any advice to offer, but trying to create my own plan with a partner and am curious how much you are budgeting per day?
For Days 2 & 4, remember that shops usually don’t open til 10 or 11am so have a morning activity planned (parks etc).
Depending on your interests, 4 days in Tokyo is pretty short. There is also a lot of easy day trips from Tokyo so you never really run out of things to do.
Days 13 – Day 12 is pretty busy so I suggest adding a day to Hiroshima. This will give you time to go to Miyajima.
Days 14-16 – I would suggest finding somewhere for a couple of nights between Hiroshima and Tokyo and then add an extra day to Tokyo.
I believe it’s about a 2.5 hour train trip from Kyoto to Kinosaki, one way.
I would consider staying in Kinosaki overnight if you want to have a more relaxed time. It’s beautiful at night too.
Day 2: I’d suggest leaving most of your shopping in Tokyo until the last few days before you fly out – saves you carrying around too much.
Day 5: Are you staying in Osaka starting from this day? It makes the most sense time-wise to visit Nara as a day trip from Osaka or Kyoto.
Day 12: I think you will struggle to do both Hiroshima and Miyajima in a single day. Note also that the Miyajima torii is under reconstruction until 2023. I would suggest Himeji as an alternative half-day outing. You could spend an extra day in Miyajima or somewhere like Onomichi.
Depending on how easily you get sick of temples, I’d say you can see the essentials of Kyoto in 2.5 to 3 days, going off a [sample itinerary](https://www.insidekyoto.com/kyoto-three-day-itinerary). With Tokyo it’s harder to say, because the place is so massive that you could easily spend a month just there.
Here are some suggestions for days 13-16: Kamakura, Nikko, Yokohama, Onomichi, Odawara or Hakone, Kawaguchiko.
Check out a map of Tokyo because you’re doing a lot of back and forth in the first 4 days. Also have a look at where Kyoto Nara and Osaka are too.
I would suggest Kyoto then Osaka and then do Nara as a day trip from either of them. Then on to Hiroshima.