Hey guys – I’ve got a rough sketch going here for a trip I’ll be taking early 2023. This is more or less what it looks like so far.
Tuesday, March 7, 2023:
\- Arrive at NRT 4:55 PM
\- Grab sim, pickup JR Pass, suica
\- Take train to Nishi-Nippori to get to accommodation (activate 14-day JR Pass? 14 Day Pass only pays off if I do Tok-Kyoto-Osaka-Hiroshima based on an online calculator. Could swing a 7-day pass, but would have to re-arrange some of the days below to make it worth it I think.)
Wednesday, March 8:
\- Grab breakfast somewhere nearby around 8-9 AM
\- Check out Senso-Ji temple and surrounding areas, and grab lunch at Aoshima Ramen
\- If time permits, maybe try to see the Teamlab Planets exhibit same day, but feeling doubtful of being able to squeeze this in.
\- Enjoy 2nd night, maybe at Shinjuku, before heading back to accomodation in Nishi-Nippori
Thursday, March 9:
\- Quick breakfast, and head over to Omoren Head Office to rent car
\- Head to Honda Collection Hall, ideally leaving the rental office around 10 am
\- Probably stay at Collection Hall + Twin Rings until 5-6 PM, and return to Tokyo and enjoy nightlife.
Friday, March 10:
\- Fun2Drive – I expect this thing to take all day so not expecting to do much outside of driving and then getting back to Tokyo at night, and still trying to figure out where to eat, what to do at night this day.
Saturday, March 11:
\- Initially was planning day trip to Nikko, but I feel like I might be screwing myself out of time exploring Tokyo. Thinking of scrapping and saving for another visit. Any suggestions for a car fanatic, or just any “must-dos” that I clearly haven’t mentioned?
Sunday, March 12:
\- Take JR train to Kyoto, and expect to arrive around 12 pm.
\- Check into hotel, drop bags off, and head to Gion District to walk around and grab late lunch/early dinner.
Monday, March 13:
\- Pick up rental car for planned day-trip to Suzuka Circuit. About 2 hour drive each way. Expect this to take all day, and won’t be back until 8 pm.
\- If time allows, would be going to Miyagawasuji at night to grab dinner – any suggestions outside of this?
Tuesday, March 14:
\- Fushimi Inari – try to visit at 8 AM to avoid crowds if possible, and go to Nishiki Market later that day to grab lunch (1 PM?)
\- Nijo Castle
\- Night: Undecided.
Wednesday, March 15:
\- Gion District again at 8 AM to enjoy walking around and sightseeing (Yasaka Pagoda). Aiming to leave around 1-2 PM after grabbing lunch.
\- Thinking of grabbing Kobe Beef for dinner this day, undecided as to where.
\- Pontocho Park at night, maybe grab dinner here.
Thursday, March 16:
\- Check out of 1st Kyoto Hotel and Check into nearby Ryokan for one night for the experience. At this point I’m probably still just toting around a carry on + a backpack and maybe one suitcase.
\- Day is unplanned as of now.
Friday, March 17 through Saturday 18:
\- Kyoto to Osaka, take JR train.
\- unplanned as of now. Still looking at a bunch of touristy vids for ideas.
Sunday, March 19:
\- Day trip to Nagoro (scarecrow village)
\- This one’s definitely going to take all day, but I’ve been interested in visiting since early 2020. Drive looks to be pretty long at 4 hours each way. I’m not opposed to driving long distances, as I do this all the time already, but in a foreign country, especially in a more rural setting this looks to be a bit challenging. Any tips on other methods that can be used to visit this spot? Is the drive really as difficult as I’m making it out to be? May just scrap and save for another visit.
Monday, March 20:
\- Initially was thinking of making a day trip out of going to Hiroshima, but I can only imagine how tired I’ll be from Nagoro day prior, and then basically stuck on a train for a few hours to be in Hiroshima for a few hours seems….silly. That being said, I’d really want to visit the Mazda Museum and take a factory tour if possible. Afterwards would go to the peace memorial museum.
I’d like to make the Hiroshima day-trip work if possible. Anecdotally I’ve heard of this working out just fine, but I’d like more input if possible. Like I stated above, I could scrap scarecrow for some other trip if it seems too hectic.
Tuesday, March 21:
\- Osaka to Tokyo via JR. (Estimated time 3 hours, so allowing for 4 total)
\- Probably arriving around 1 PM, and will check into hotel.
\- Planning on grabbing lunch (still deciding), and then going to Honda HQ for a visit.
\- Maybe hit up some Seiko/BIC Camera stores and do some end-of-trip shopping.
\- See a Honda dealer here and pick up some “Japan Only” paraphernalia.
Wednesday, March 22:
\- Last minute shopping and food tours.
\- Get back to Narita around 4 pm for 6:35 PM flight (leave/checkout of hotel around 3 pm).
Thanks for taking the time to look through this. I’m still adding stuff to several days and everything is still subject to change – however, the Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka dates are more-or-less what I’m trying to keep, maybe shifting some stays by a day or two.
1 comment
Planning a day trip to Nagoro from Kyoto/Osaka area is fairly silly. Under the best of circumstances, it would not be the smoothest of drives since you would have to wade through both morning rush hour on the way in and evening rush hour on the way out. Renting in Kobe would alleviate some problems with traffic, but you would not get really get to Nagoro any faster, especially since in all likelihood in late March, you’d still have to take the route via Miyoshi and Oboke.
In general, I don’t recommend making day trips into Iya Valley, perhaps if you were staying in Takamatsu or Kochi in May or so – it could make some sense, but otherwise this is one very costly (if starting from Kansai) trip since you cannot avoid toll roads (and you pass through Akashi-Kaikyo and Onaruto bridges), probably in 25,000-30,000 yen range considering rental cost and tolls.