Good evening everyone. Long time lurker, first time poster. My husband and I are finally looking forward to going to Japan after our plans to go March 2020 fell through. I’ve been reading through the other posts and using some of their advice for the places we’ve wanted to visit. I’m hoping I crafted a decent itinerary, but would definitely appreciate any feedback. No critique is too harsh (haha).
We’re not heavily focused on the more touristy areas. We would like to see more of the nightlife and try different restaurants/food stands. We’re anime/video game nerds, so we would love to hit up those kinds of shops. We definitely want to go to one of the Pokemon stores. I’m looking to get a JR Pass and a SIM card for one of our phones. Our hotels are already booked, but we have refundable cancellations.
**March 24th – 25th (*****Tokyo)***
* Leave San Diego at 12:55 pm, arrive at NRT at 4:55 pm next day.
* Get 14 day JR Pass and SIM card.
* Hotel is in Akihabara. If immigration doesn’t take too long and we’re not totally exhausted, we’ll possibly wander around by the hotel.
**March 26th, Sunday**
* Wander around Akihabara.
* Ueno Park
* Nakano Broadway
* If there are places still open, we would like to check out Shinjuku Golden Gai
**March 27th, Monday**
* Shibuya Parco
* Takeshita Street/Harajuku
* Meiji Jingu
* End the night at Park Hyatt Tokyo at the bar from Lost in Translation. I know, cringe.
**March 28th, Tuesday** ***(Hakone)***
* Day/overnight trip to Hakone, staying at the Hotel Green Plaza Hakone. We reserved one of the rooms with the open air onsen in the room with a view of Mt. Fuji. I’ve been looking at other places that have the same amenities, but this was the only one that allowed me to book this far in advance.
* Tour of Mt. Fuji if the conditions allow for it.
**March 29th, Wednesday**
* Return to Tokyo, head to the Edo Castle Ruins
* Nakamise Shopping Street
* Visit Golden Gai if it wasn’t possible the first time. If not, wander around Akihabara if time/energy permits it
**March 30th, Thursday (*****Kyoto*****)**
* Check out of hotel hopefully early and head to Kyoto using Shinkansin
* Our hotel is about a 5 minute walk from Shijo Karasum Station, so I was thinking we could stash our luggage in a locker until we can check in (unless it would less of a hassle to ship to the hotel)
* Wander around Nishiki Market
* Finish the evening at Pontocho
**March 31st, Friday**
* Heian Shrine
* Nanzen-ji
* Kodai-ji
**April 1st, Saturday (*****Osaka*****)**
* Check out of hotel and stash luggage at station again (unless alternative is better)
* Check out the Fushimi Inari Taisha
* Check in to Cross Hotel Osaka
* Wander around Dotonburi
**April 2nd, Sunday**
* Visit Osaka Castle
* Osaka Aquarium
**April 3rd, Monday**
* Hopefully we’ll be able to check out the new teamLabs exhibit opening here
* Stumble around Dotonburi again. Otherwise this is a free day to relax
**April 4th, Tuesday (*****Miyajima*****)**
* Check out of hotel and take the ferry to Miyajima. We got a room within 5 minutes walking distance from Itsukushima
* Check out the Floating Gate and/or surrounding area with time permitting
**April 5th, Wednesday**
* Go hiking on Mt. Misen
* Really get to experience the Floating Gate
**April 6th – April 7th (*****Tokyo*****)**
* Check out of hotel in Miyajima and make the long trek back to Tokyo. We’re definitely starting early and understand most of the day is dedicated to travel, but we just really want to visit the Floating Torii
* These days are dedicated to relaxing and visiting places we may have missed the first time around
**April 8th**
* Flying out of Narita at 5:20 pm, returning to San Diego at 11:00 am (woohoo, time travel!)
Again, thank you so much for reading this!!!
4 comments
I’m also from sd doing similar days!
If the weather is right, you’re right smack dab in cherry blossom season, so leave a bit of flexibility time for hanami.
I wouldn’t hit Akihabara twice, but that’s just me. Ikebukuro is an option.
Consider changing your overnights to Kyoto -> Miyajima -> Osaka -> Tokyo instead. Same travel distance but you break up your long journey. There are options to get off train on way back from Miyajima you could then take. Send your bags to Osaka hotel and travel light to Miyajima.
Hakone is on the Shinkansen line from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka, so no reason to go from Tokyo to Hakone, back to Tokyo, then past Hakone on the way to Kyoto. Just do Tokyo -> Hakone -> Kyoto.
Also, you can ship your luggage from Tokyo to Kyoto and just take a small roller bag on the train to Hakone.
Great post. Thx