Hi all,
My brother and I are visiting Japan for the first time, Oct 11-Oct 26, departing New York and in/out from Tokyo Haneda. We are so excited! I acknowledge it’s coming up quick. The trip was a knee-jerk because we both had vacation at the same time, border happened to reopen, and we just said — “let’s do it”. We are moving asap to book (ie starting bookings tomorrow), **but would LOVE some feedback, particularly surrounding my questions listed below the itinerary.** I appreciate your thoughts in advance, and happy to provide additional info where needed.
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**ITINERARY:**
**Weds, Oct 12:** **^(Sleep in Tokyo)**
* Land in Tokyo around 6:30pm local time, eat dinner, sleep
**Thurs, Oct 13:** **^(Sleep in Tokyo)**
* General jet lag recovery day/Tokyo chill day of exploration…I’m getting a manicure 🙂 (we’ve yet to build this day but unconcerned – we’ll pick 1-2 food/shopping-based areas and keep it at that. Might skip “attractions/sites” and just explore a hip neighborhood or two plus dinner res, as the rest of trip has so many attractions. Regardless, I will edit post once nailed down.)
**Fri, Oct 14:** ^(involves check out/transit;) **^(Sleep in Kyoto)**
* Depart Tokyo in morning, \~3hr train ride to Kyoto (Tokyo-Sanyo Shinkansen)
* Check in/drop bags at accommodation in North Higashiyama (I like the local feel/quieter stays)
* Southern Higashiyama/Downtown site seeing, dinner, evening stroll in Gion
**Sat, Oct 15:** **^(Sleep in Kyoto)**
* Uji area tea tour 10-2:30p (we are tea hobbyists, so excited to do this)
* Kyoto free afternoon – do some sites, walk/bike around, dinner
* Visit Fukishimi Inari Taishi in evening
**Sun, Oct 16:** **^(Sleep in Kyoto)**
* Kyoto day, exploring Northern Higashiyama (I have a tofu place in mind!) and Nishijin by bike
**Mon, Oct 17:** ^(involves check out/transit;) **^(Sleep in Osaka)**
* 30min train to Osaka; Check in/drop bags at accommodation
* Explore Dotombori/Hanku Depachika/Namba – basically a food tour/explore day
* Book a guided food tour at night
**Tues, Oct 18:** **^(Sleep in Osaka)**
* Osaka (Potential Himeji Castle morning trip, and Kobe lunch and walk through Kitano-cho. Cancel Himeji if we feel like we’re doing “a lot”)
* Stay in Kobe for dinner, or head back to Osaka for dinner
**Weds, Oct 19:** ^(involves check out/transit;) **^(Sleep in Kanazawa)**
* 2.5hr Morning train ride to Kanazawa; Check in/drop bags at accommodation
* Explore and eat at Omichi Market, visit Enroku-en garden
**Thurs, Oct 20:** **^(Sleep in Kanazawa)**
* Explore Kanazawa day: Nagamachi Samurai quarter, Ishiwaka museum of arts and crafts, etc.
**Fri, Oct 21:** ^(involves check out/transit;) **^(Sleep in Takayama)**
* \~2.5hr morning **bus** ride to Takayama; Check in/drop bags at accommodation
* Explore Takayama day: walk to Hide-No-Sato (thought this would be sufficient, bc thought it would be too much to go to Gokayama or other village as we wouldn’t have a car), explore downtown area, have sake and nice meal.
**Sat, Oct 22:** ^(involves check out/transit;) **^(Sleep in an Okuhida Onsen Ryokan)**
* Morning <bus?> ride to an Okuhida Onsen; Check in/drop bags at accommodation
* Do a day hike and/or relax at an Onsen (provided there is accommodation available (bit stressed we won’t find), I will edit post once secured)
* Ryokan dinner experience
**Sun, Oct 23:** **^(Sleep in an Okuhida Onsen Ryokan)**
* Day hike and/or relax at Onsen
* Ryokan breakfast/dinner experience
**Mon, Oct 24:** ^(involves check out/transit;) **^(Sleep in Tokyo)**
* \~5.5 hour train back to Tokyo (**I could use feedback here** \- we were thinking of bus back to Takayama, JR scenic line from Takayama to Nagoya, then Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen east to Tokyo)
**Tues, Oct 25:** **^(Sleep in Tokyo)**
* Tokyo chill day of exploration and I’m hopefully getting another fun manicure to “take” back home 🙂 !! (like Oct 13, we’ve yet to built this day, but I will edit post once nailed down.)
**Weds, Oct 26:**
* Morning in Tokyo, departing from Haneda \~4:30pm
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**Logistics:**
* We’re purchasing JR vouchers now, for pick up on arrival
* We’re purchasing sim cards or wifi on arrival
* We’re bringing a bit of cash in hand, but also have our travel credit cards, and travel debit cards for ATMs
* We want to pack as light as possible, but realistically that’s 1 day-backpack and 1 checked bag each
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**Questions/requests for feedback:**
1. Weds 19th onward is where I’d like the most feedback as it’s where I have the most pause – positive affirmation or critique/alternate suggestions are welcome lol: I’m concerned with the amount of check-in/outs especially in this second half, largely due to the thought of having to schlep our checked bags (1 ea) around transfers etc. Is my dread valid or really not a big deal? I’ve heard there are luggage transportation services — would that make sense from the Onsen back to Tokyo?
2. Do we have too much train/transit time overall or is it reasonable considering the amazing places we are going? Trying to validate as the trains are an experience themselves, and likely will allow us time to recuperate/take rest.
3. We heard Nara has “amazing persimmons”, and we love persimmons. Are they really “the best” there, or will persimmons be exquisite anywhere this time of year?
4. Many of our trips’ JR Pass trains say they *don’t* require reservations – while I still need to validate this, will we have an issue with our checked bags (1 each) being rejected on those which do not require res?
Thanks for the help!