Hi guys, I am so excited that I will be going to Japan at the end of March for two and a half weeks. I was meant to go at the end of October but decided to delay it since I was uncertain about the tourism situation.
I will be going with two friends (3 guys in their late 20s) and after spending a lot of time on this sub I created an itinerary for my trip and would be open to any suggestions to improve anything.
**Tokyo**
**27/04**: Land at Narita at 13:00, take Keisei Skyliner and check in at hotel at Hanzomon in Chiyoda (I chose a hotel here because it was cheap but also central as I would like to visit the different areas of tokyo), and go to the Shinjuku Gyoen park to see the cherry blossoms, if not too tired visit Shinjuku a bit.
**28/03 – 31/03**: General exploration of various areas. Asakusa-Akihabara one day, Shinjuku-Shibuya another. Tsukiji market and teamlabs planets, and a half day/day trip to Kamakura.
**Osaka**
**01/04**: Activate 14 day JRPass and go to Osaka in the morning. Maybe go to Nara on the way and then go to Osaka, or go straight to Osaka castle. Hotel is in the Namba area very close to Dotonbori. Spend saturday night out
**02/04**: Shinsekai, Kuromon, parks.
**Kyoto**
**03/04**: Leave and go to Kyoto in the morning. If we did not go to Nara before, go to Nara and then to Kyoto to check in to Ryokan Tori.
**04/04 – 06/04**: Go visit the main sights every guide tells you to visit, I won’t list them here
**Kobe / Himeji / Hiroshima**
**07/04**: Leave Kyoto early in the morning to go to Kobe, have a Kobe beef lunch at noon, and then leave to visit the Himeji castle. After that, go to Hiroshima in the evening, dinner at Okonomimura and then go to the hotel right next to the memorial.
**08/04**: Go visit the memorial and museum in the morning, then go to Miyajima. After that take the train back to Osaka in the evening.
**Osaka / Koyasan**
**09/04**: If we are not too tired, we can go on a day trip to Koyasan since our hotel is next to the Namba station that goes to Koyasan. Even though many people recommend the overnight stay there, I feel it is a part that I can skip as I will already sleep once in a ryokan which seems to be enough for me.
Hakone
**10/04**: Leave Osaka early in the morning and go to Hakone. Do the Hakone “loop” (is the Hakone two day pass worth it if we have the JR pass?). In the evening go back to Tokyo and check into a hotel in Shinjuku.
**Tokyo (day trips to make full use of the JRPass)**
**11/04 – 13/04**: Ideally, we would like to do a one day trip to Nikko one day, go to the Chureito Pagoda another day (with the JR limited express, depending on how long we stay it can be a full or one where we return back to Tokyo around 3 pm), and to have a full day in Tokyo if we missed out on anything.
**14/04**: Spend morning visiting any last places and getting any missing souvenirs, and going back to Narita with the JRPass to get on the plane at 17:00
We will of course be visiting all the cherry blossom spots. I would like to know when is the best time to visit Nara? On our way to Osaka or the day when we go from Osaka to Kyoto?
Since we will have big luggage the plan was to ship the luggage from Tokyo to Kyoto, and have a backpack for 3 days, and then to ship the cases back to the hotel in Shinjuku on the day we leave for Hiroshima and again pack for 3/4 days in a backpack. The suitcases are mainly there for souvenirs. Also if there are any other tips I would gladly take them. Thanks! 😀
7 comments
You can easily visit Nara from Osaka or Kyoto, no need to do it on the way from Tokyo. It’s like 30-40mins ride if I remember correctly.
Koyasan is fantastic by the way, don’t miss out on it. However, I think you can skip staying overnight. You can see most of it in half day.
I personally just love Osaka, so naturally, I’d recommend spending more time there. The castle has an awesome gift shop, if you’re into the Sengoku era. The aquarium is a blast, too.
Make sure to avoid street touts and anyone that seems too friendly, japanese are generally very reserved and so if any act extra friendly it’s likely to lure you into one of the scams talked about in this video: [Abroad in Japan Video on Scammers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeZUOFKOUeI)
My only thought to consider is your day in Hiroshima and Miyajima. The memorial park in museum, rightfully so, is a very somber experience. I wouldn’t start my day with that. We recently returned from Japan and went to Miyajima first during the day and then made our way over to the Peace Park and Museum. We got to Miyajima relatively early around 9:00 a.m. and didn’t get to the Peace Park until about 4:00. The museum closes I believe at 7:00. We did not give ourselves enough time to go through the museum and ended up having to rush through the last half of the exhibit. In my opinion you could break this day up you have planned into two days.
On passes: given your itinerary, consider if you truly need a 14-day JR pass, or if it makes more financial sense to do some combination of:
* Move Hiroshima/Miyajima to either right before or right after the Kansai bits so you can fly from Hiroshima to Tokyo (you cannot use Nozomi trains on the Japan Rail Pass so it will be a long ride). With a bit of advanced booking this will not be more than 11k for tourists on ANA/JAL. Domestic flying in Japan on a mainline carrier is very civilized.
* Directly buying the Tokyo – Kyoto and Kyoto- Hiroshima shinkansen tickets (which will get you onto the faster Nozomis). Kobe and Himeji are fairly easy day tripping from Osaka.
* Tokyo wide pass which will cover one day each of Nikko, Narita Express and I think most of the chureito pagoda too.
* Where appropriate, passes offered by private railways in Kansai eg kintetsu/hankyu/hanshin which can actually be more efficient than JR for some of the shorter day trips from Osaka/Kyoto. Despite the name, JR is not the only rail operator in Japan nor necessarily the ‘best’ for all itineraries 🙂
The Hakone loop transportation modes are not covered by the JR pass so it will be a wash
Osaka – Hakone – Tokyo
I would return to Tokyo and do a day trip from Tokyo on the day of your choosing. Some days are worse than others due to weather and thermal conditions. If you have a set day you take what it is but if your in Tokyo doing a day trip you can be flexible and choose based on the forecast. You don’t want to go on a day when Mt. Fuji is not visible, ie under cloud cover.
From Osaka you have a 3 hour journey with luggage while it’s 45 minutes from Tokyo with no luggage. More value in the Hakone Pass as you have more time.
The Hakone two day pass was worth it for us even though we just used it for one day. The JR Pass will get you close but there are local transport costs and entry costs the Hakone Pass will cover. Up to you to investigate, plenty of guides by googling.
Kawaguchiko is not fully covered by JR pass, still take Fuji excursion to do the full trip and pay the extra. If you want more flexibility on the day you go to have good weather, just go by bus, it is as fast and much cheaper.
Go to Meiji Jingu Stadium and watch the Swallows home opener if you’re going in late March, it’s in Shinjuku. It’s something else. I’m not sure how to get tickets as I’ve never done this myself but judging by other tourist’s experience it is an absolute must if you’re into sports.