Me and my girlfriend have been doing a ton of planning on this and we think we’ve got a pretty good itinerary laid out with a few exceptions. We’ve been very careful to plan around New Years.
I have ordered 2x 14 day JR pass after using the JR pass calculator, as well as 2x pasmo cards. I have an unlimited data SIM for myself that I’ll be using.
The goal is to have a rough list of places we might like to go and then reference that list when we are in a city with free time and depending on how we feel. Kind of loosely planned unless reservations required.
I also have the itinerary in a Google Sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1e5Llc2QYbkHqbjobaYpU-sF04k4JlzBTYFpm2BNgxBY/edit?usp=sharing
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**Dec 20, 4:45pm**
– Arrive at airport, redeem JR pass and activate it.
– Use JR pass and take Narita Express to Tokyo Station.
– Check in to hotel
– Grab ramen at ramen street
**Dec 21**
– Jet lag recovery
– Check out Tokyo Skytree just to get us out and exploring
**Dec 22, ~10:00am**
– Check out of hotel
– Take Tokaido-Sanyo Shinkansen to Kyoto Station
– Take Kinosaki 7 Limited Express Kinosakionsen to Kinosaki
– Check in to Ryokan (only day Morizuya was available)
**Dec 23**
– Explore Kinosaki
– [~3:30pm] Take train to Osaka
– Check in to Osaka hotel, eat dinner
**Dec 24 & 25**
– Explore Osaka
– Osaka Aquarium
– Osaka Castle
– Sumiyoshi Taisha
– Minoh Park (maybe)
– UK Cafe (restaurant themed after our university?? We have to!)
– Would love suggestions on something christmas-y since it could be fun (I know Japan does not celebrate it)
**Dec 26**
– Day trip to Kyoto. We figure since it won’t be as pretty in the winter only one day might be acceptable.
– Arashiyama Bamboo Forest
– Kyoto Gyoen National Garden
– Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion)
– Kyoto Railway Museum (maybe)
– Suggestions welcome!
**Dec 27**
– Day trip to Kobe
– Explore Kobe, maybe Kobe Nunobiki Ropeway, ChinaTown?
– Eat really fancy steak somewhere (suggestions welcome!)
**Dec 28**
????? unsure what to do with this day. Could leave blank for flexibility. Looking for feedback
**Dec 29**
– Train to Hiroshima (leave baggage with hotel, check in later)
– Peace park
– Atomic bomb dome
– Check in to hotel
**Dec 30**
– Itsukushima/Miyajima
– Train to Tokyo
– Check in to Shinjuku city hotel
**Dec 31**
– explore?
– Head to Shibuya city for New Years
**Jan 1**
– Go to shrine
– No further plans (recommendations welcome!)
**Jan 2**
– Day trip to Nagoya (last day JR pass is valid)
– SCMaglev and Railway Park
– Ghibli park @ Expo 2005
**Jan 3-8**
– Explore Tokyo
– teamLab Planets
– Akihabara Electric Town
– Rikugien Garden
– Odaiba Seaside Park
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The day trip to Nagoya obviously is not optimal, but the SCMaglev and Railway Museum is closed Dec 27-Jan 1, so 1.5 hour trip both ways didn’t seem to bad in the end. Plus… I love trains. Maybe we’ll even go to the Tokyo train museum as well haha.
Dec 30 could probably be moved to the 31st, freeing up a day if needed. Unsure what to plan for on the 28th. Looking for general advice on how to make this the best trip it can be! We will be trying to both just use carry-on backpack style luggage to make movement easier as well. We will have two unused checked bags that we may use on the way back for stuff.
Also, I don’t have a nice lightweight winter coat. Was thinking about running to grab one at Uniqlo on our jet lag recovery day vs ordering one beforehand.
Thanks!
1 comment
Looking at this, I have the impression that you do as much as you can to have the longest train ride possible. It could be optimized.
Yes, Nagoya as a daytrip is kind of a waste of time, why not stop by Nagoya when going out of Tokyo instead of when you return ?
After Nagoya, direct to Hiroshima for 2 nights. First day visit Hiroshima, second day Miyajima, third day take train in the morning to Himeji to visit the castle. Lunch there and get on the Hamakaze train at 1:35 to reach Kinosaki at 3:12. The next day move from Kinosaki to Osaka to do daytrips to Kobe, Kyoto.
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For the day in Kyoto, you don’t usually go to Kyoto for the greenery, but for the temple, shrines and other sights around town. Of all places, I the first I would drop is Kyoto Gyoen that would not even include if you had to spend 3 full days in Kyoto.