Hey All!
Over winter break, my partner and I are headed on our first trip to Japan. We arrive in Tokyo at Narita on the 20th and fly out from the same airport on the 29th, so full days from December 21-28. We plan to spend most of the trip in Kyoto (flying into Tokyo rather than Osaka because it was the cheapest by $400 USD or so).
We are interested in seeing parks and nature, a few temples/shrines, a couple of museums (if we have the time), going on bike rides/walks, and mostly spending our time experiencing Japan in a relatively laidback way (we don’t want to go-go-go morning to night).
Of course, we’re looking forward to trying fun, tasty, and new (to us) food- at home we are mostly vegetarian but are happy to eat meat and try new things while traveling.
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Here is our rough itinerary. The Kyoto/Tokyo Airbnb dates are fairly set (Kyoto we can change the reservation until December) and the actual activities on each day could vary, but they are grouped by location and organized in a way that seems (to me) not too exhausting.
Please give any advice/feedback/thoughts you have on any aspects of the trip, but the questions I have in mind now that I’d love help with are:
1. JR pass- worth it for a 7-day pass? Originally I was leaning toward ‘yes’, but looking at our trip, it may be cheaper/same cost to do one-ways between Tokyo-Kyoto and then just get day passes for Kyoto and Tokyo Subways/busses
2. are there any ‘must see’ things that we seem to be missing?
3. do any of the days seem too empty? We want a bit of down time, but don’t want to be aimless for half a day
4. conversely, do any of the days seem too packed to be enjoyable?
5. I feel like our December 28th day could be combined to either the 26th or 27th or split between the two, which would give us the option to go on a day trip from Tokyo. I think Fuji-Q would be really fun (weather dependant), but I’m not tied to it. I have also heard that Enoshima/Kamakura is a good day trip from Tokyo, so that could be on the table
6. National museum of emerging sciences in Tokyo- worth the visit?
7. Winter celebrations or illuminations- are there any that we should plan on seeing?
\*\*Tuesday Dec 20-\*\*Arrive at Narita 2:30 pm
Bullet train to Kyoto
Check in Airbnb Kyoto – this will likely be around 6 or 7 local time? This will feel like 2/3am for us, so we will likely have a quick dinner (or skip dinner) and go to bed.
\*\*Wednesday Dec 21-\*\*Airbnb Kyoto
Nikishi Market for lunch – I have heard that they don’t do fish cutting on Wednesdays- should we move this day in order to see that?
Philosopher’s Path
Eikando Temple
Honen-in Temple
**Thursday Dec 22-** Airbnb Kyoto
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Senko-ji Temple, and all of the other sights in this area
I am fairly interested in Iwatayama Monkey Park – are the monkeys here treated well in your opinion? I would skip if it seems they don’t have happy monkeyhoods
\*\*Friday Dec 23 -\*\*Airbnb Kyoto
Funaoka Onsen- or any onsen. I have a few tattoos and this is one of the main ones I saw where that wouldn’t be an issue
Gion walkaround
Fushimi Inari
Bike along Kamo River?- this is near our AirBNB (which comes with bikes), so it could be a fun and easy activity- low planning
**Saturday Dec 24-** Airbnb Kyoto
Botanical Gardens
Imperial Palace
Kinkaku-ji/ Rokuon-ji (Temple of the golden Pavillion)
Tea Tasting (Marukyu-Koyamaen (Nishinotoin Shop) is what I have marked on our map if you have any opinions on it)
\*\*Sunday Dec 25-\*\*Airbnb Kyoto
Free day- what should we do?
Go to Nara for Deer Park?
Go to Hiroshima?
Go to Osaka?
Move things around from other days?
Anything in/near Kyoto not on our list that we should see?
**Monday Dec 26**
\*If we got a 7 day JR pass, this is the day that it would expire\*
Checkout Airbnb KyotoCheck in Airbnb Tokyo
(these three are right near our airbnb)
Yoyogi Park
Shinjuyu gyoen national garden
Walk around Harajuku
\*\*Tuesday Dec 27-\*\*Airbnb Tokyo
Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens
Jimbocho book district
National Showa Memorial Museum OR Baseball museum (preferences? See both, skip both?)
\*\*Wednesday Dec 28-\*\*Airbnb Tokyo
Shitamachi Museum OR National Science Museum (preferences? See both, skip both?)
Sudima Park
Nakamise Street food
**Thursday Dec 29**
Check out Airbnb TokyoArrive at airport at 1pm for our 4pm flight
Will likely just grab breakfast and head to airport on this day
Please let me know what you think- I am open to all feedback! Thanks so much for reading and sharing your advice!
3 comments
I’d recommend the rail pass unless you are on a tight budget. The tokyo <> Kyoto round trip will run most of the cost, and with the rail pass you’ll have the freedom to take extensive day trips without calculating the additional cost, especially if you’re thinking Nara or Hiroshima. It’s easier than trying to buy individual tickets for train trips while you’re in city as well.
*If you feel “templed-out” by the third day in Kyoto or so, Osaka downtown/dontonbori is a good city diversion for the evening. With the rail pass it’s a 15 minute train ride so its an easy decision to be made the day of.
I can only chime in on a couple things:
– I think it’s worth getting the JR Pass. Even just going to Kyoto and back, it pretty much pays for itself. It’ll also cover the Narita Express to Tokyo when you arrive. Then it would cover daytrips to Hiroshima/Osaka/etc…
– Museum of Emerging Science. I went mostly to see Asimo the robot, which was worth it, but I heard that he retired so I’m not sure the museum is a must anymore. I heard the National Disaster Prevention Experience is cool, might be a better option?
**JR pass- worth it for a 7-day pass? Originally I was leaning toward ‘yes’, but looking at our trip, it may be cheaper/same cost to do one-ways between Tokyo-Kyoto and then just get day passes for Kyoto and Tokyo Subways/busses**
If you just do round-trip Tokyo-Kyoto, you won’t save anything. You would need a bit more to just be at the cost of the pass, like even a trip to Osaka or Nara would not make it worth. It would actually make more sense to not have a pass for these daytrips as you would have the option to use non-JR train, like Kintetsu to go to Nara, for similar total cost.
However, if you plan to go to Hiroshima, then that is a straight 20 000 yen saving with the pass.
Even if you take the JR Pass, it can make sense to take a day pass for Kyoto and Tokyo, because the JR Pass does not cover any bus/subway/tram/private railway. So while there is some local JR lines in both cities, it may not always be the most convenient. However, it’s not because there is local pass that exist that it automatically make sense to get them, you might want to get an idea of how much it would cost to just pay individually for everything, as a bonus it gives you the liberty to use whatever mode of transportation make most sense, you are not going to force yourself to use what is covered by the pass. If you do not move that much, it might just be cheaper to pay for individual ticket. Just get a suica or pasmo to make payment easier (get a pasmo is you think you might get the 24-48-72h Metro ticket in Tokyo as you can load it on Pasmo, otherwise you have to buy it as a separate ticket).
**Winter celebrations or illuminations- are there any that we should plan on seeing?**
There is many in Tokyo, just search for winter illumination and you should be able to find list. And yes, I think it’s worth taking the time to see one (or more).
Yoyogi park can be a skip, the good reasons to go are cherry blossom and people watching the weekend when it’s warm, so no good reason to go in December because it’s just a park, not a garden (you already have nice one in your list). Same goes for Sumida Park, just a park, not a garden and no reason to go outside of cherry blossom time.
Instead of Yoyogi park, check Meiji-jingu and instead of Sumida park, just check Senso-ji that you oddly did not list but you will likely go check.
You could check to end day in Koishikawa korakuen (like be there until it close) and go to Tokyo Dome city for the winter illumination.