Hello all! My husband and I had planned a trip in 2020, that was delayed to 2021, and now it looks like it will happen in summer of 2023. We have been to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka before (brief stay in Kyoto/Osaka) and there are things we want to revisit/see for the first time.
About us: 30-somthings, used to long walks (10-15 miles in a day is OK), LOVE food (big reason for returning to Japan), I have a lot of tattoos, $5-6k USD budget per person. When we were going for just 14 days and doing Hokkaido only we planned to visit Biei and Furano with a car, since we have recently experienced amazing lavender farms elsewhere, we opted to keep to public transport and spend that time elsewhere.
Itinerary below. Questions following.
**Tokyo (2 nights 6/22-6/24)**
**Day 1 (6/22)**
* Land at Haneda 2pm on 6/22
* o 1hr: Monorail – Haneda terminal -> Hamamatsucho ; Subway – Daimon -> Tochomae
* Check in to hotel (Tokyo Hilton)
* Dinner
* Walk – hit 7/11
* Rest
**Day 2 (6/23)**
* Tsukiji
* Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
* Golden Gai
* Rest
**Day 3 (6/24)**
* Slow morning – head to HND
**Sapporo (4 nights 6/24-6/29)**
**Day 1 (6/24)**
* Flight to Sapporo
* o HND -> CTS 1.5hr
* o Train CTS to Sapporo 35m
* Check in/drop off luggage
* Lunch & wander Sapporo
* Rest at hotel
* Dinner
**Day 2 (6/25)**
* Explore Sapporo
* o Mt. Moiwayama (cable car up @ night)
* o Tanukikoji Shopping arcade
* o Susukino
**Day 3 (6/28)**
* Nijo Ichiba
* Chocolate factory
* Odori park
* Clock tower
* Beer museum
**Day 4 6(26)**
* Take train to Otaru (1.5hr)
* Otaru Kihinkan
* Gondola up Mt. Tengu
* Otaru canal
* Guided tour of Yoichi Distillery
* Train back to Sapporo
* Dinner in Sapporo
**Day 5 (6/27)**
* Breakfast
* Walk
* Head to Asahikawa
**Asahikawa (2 nights 6/27-6/29)**
**Day 1 (6/27)**
* Train from Sapporo
* Lunch
* Hotel
* Ramen village
* Wander
* Dinner
**Day 2 (6/38)**
* Ueno Farm
* Wander
* Dinner
* Relax
**Day 3 (6/29)**
* Breakfast
* Head to station for Noboribetsu
* o Asahikawa to Sapporo, transfer, arrive at Horobetsu – 228mins (roughly $88pp USD; green & reserved seats)
**Noboribetsu (2 nights 6/29-7/1)**
**Day 1 (6/29)**
* Train in from Asahikawa
* Check in
* Relax
* Dinner
* Soak
**Day 2 (6/30)**
* Morning soak
* Breakfast
* Jigokundai (Hell Valley
* o JR bus at Noboribetsu station, to last stop
* · Oyunuma River Natural Footbath
* o Walk trail from Hell Valley
* Return for dinner
* Soak
* Rest
**Day 3 (7/1)**
* Morning soak
* Breakfast
* Relax – wander Noboribetsu
* Train to Hakodate
* o From Horobetsu station around 3:30pm – arrive Hakodate around 6:30pm (Green seat = $45-65)
**Hakodate (3 nights 7/1-7/4)**
**Day 1 (7/1)**
* Morning soak and breakfast
* Train to Hakodate
* Wander
* Hakodate Meijikan
* Dinner
* Relax
**Day 2 (7/2)**
* Hakodate morning market
* Goryokaku park & tower
* Daimon Yokocho for dinner
* Relax
**Day 3 (7/3)**
* Hakodate morning market (early morning)
* Mt. Hakodate – ropeway
* Red-Brick warehouse
* Relax
**Day 4 (7/4)**
* Relax
* Breakfast
* Flight HKD – > ITM 1:40pm-3:20pm ($168 total)
**Kyoto/Osaka (5 nights 7/4-7/10)**
**Day 1 (7/4)**
* Arrive in Osaka at 3:20pm
* Grab food
* Check in to hotel
* Relax
* Dinner (Okonomiyaki Mizuno?)
**Day 2 (7/5)**
* Nara day trip
* o Todai-ji
* o Nara park
* o Kasuga-taisha
* o Harushika Brewery
* Head back to Osaka
* Dinner in Dotombori
**Day 3 (7/6)**
* Dotombori
* Aquarium
* Osaka castle park
* Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine
**Day 4 (7/7)**
* Transfer to Kyoto
* Grab food
* Check in to hotel
* Fushimi Inari at night
**Day 5 (7/8)**
* Kinkaku-ji
* Unplanned
**Day 6 (7/9)**
* Arashiyama day trip
* o Taxi to Otagi Nenbutsuji
* o Adashi no Nenbutsuji temple
* o Toriimoto preserved village
* o Gioji moss garden
* o Lunch
* o Monkey park
* Back to Kyoto – Pontocho for dinner & drinks
**Day 7 (7/10)**
* Depart to Tokyo
**Tokyo (1 nights 7/10-7/11)**
**Day 1 (7/10)**
* Arrive from Kyoto
* Check in to hotel
* Grab dinner
* Relax
**Day 2 (7/11)**
* Travel day, flight from HND at 3pm (arrive by 12pm)
**Questions:**
1. Is domestic air travel straightforward with checked-bags? Anything we should be aware of? Do we need the US standard arrival 2 hours prior to departure?
2. Some of the trip is from my planning pre-COVID, is any of this significantly changed or closed?
3. The day trip to Arashiyama was snagged from another post because it looked amazing – I tried mapping the route in Google Maps and it looped me back to 162… can I walk this route?
4. How do I reserve seats on the routes in Hokkaido, without a JR pass? When we had the Green Pass before we went to a ticket office and booked it. (Some trains run the Ltd Exp rails). Can we get “Green seats” without a JR pass? Or should we just get a JR Pass? We used one before (along with our SUICA cards for other transport it didn’t cover)
5. Does this flow make sense? We have a lot of long rides in Hokkaido, however, we really enjoyed the train experiences in Tokyo (especially in the green car). Is there mapping that makes better sense?
6. We are hoping for a ryokan with a private open-air onsen in Noboribetsu, along with an in-room kaiseki. I have a couple options I’m watching for booking. Anyone have any experiences at any in Noboribetsu? Is booking standard 6-months out still? I’ve reached out to two ryokans to ask when their booking opens for July, but have not yet heard back.
7. What are we missing, or what have I included that I should axe? Is the amount of time in each spot reasonable? Last time we visited was in summer, and was a very packed schedule so we are used to that – but also OK with having a little more flexibility and downtime.