[Itinerary Final Check] Tokyo

5 comments

1. >
   * Eat Lunch? Ichiran Asakusa
   * Visit Senso-ji
   * Kaminarimon Gate
   * YAE Kimono rentals before going
   * Nakamise-dori
   * Denboin Street
   * Yanaka and Ueno Park
   * Find good dinner sport around the area

   That’s a lot to do in an evening.. exploring Asakusa area will be fine, but you don’t really have time to do any meaningful exploration of Ueno and Yanaka as well.

   >**Day 2 –**

   It’s a bit of going back and forth. You should do Omotesando before going to Shibuya, since it’s just by Harajuku.

   You can realistically do the Hachiko monument and some Shibuya exploring between the lunch and Shibuya sky, and then some more after before going to Shinjuku.

   >**Day 3 –**

   Double sushi dinner?

   >I saw in my apply wallet that I can add either Passmo or Suica on it, are they fully functional now in Japan?

   Yes. Mobile Suica and Pasmo are fully functional in Japan.

   > Do you think its wiser to put my luggage in a locker on Haneda Airport before going to Hakone on November 17?

   Maybe food to put in a locker in the station, or send with currier to the airport.

   >Is it much better to withdraw yen using my debit card in an ATM in Japan? Or should I just exchange my dollars to yen in the airport?

   Depends on your bank, card etc etc. Fornmany it’s better to withdraw with the card in Japan. But bring some cash just in case.

   >Is it expensive to have your luggage transported from Airport to your hotel? I am kinda scared to bring 1 carry on and a 1 Check in bag as I think its kinda hassle to walk dragging two luggage’s

   Not really. But it depends what you think is expensive

   >Any places that you can recommend that I can squeeze in my itinerary? lol

   No, your itinerary is pretty full.

2. What country are you coming from? Don’t wait until you’re at the airport to exchange money. Get that done now.

3. You can book you wifi rental online and have it shipped to your hotel or picked up at the airport. I think it’s cheaper too.

4. **Day 1** sounds impossible or just a lot of touch and go without any meaningful exploration. Please use google to estimate your travelling duration, easier to plan your itinerary.I use google to check travelling time and you need about 45 minutes fastest by train to get to your hotel in Asakusa from Haneda. And from Asakusa station to your hotel is 1.1km walk (estimated duration 15 mins from google) but you will be lugging along luggages while being unfamiliar with the area and need to reference google map a lot while waking. I’ll give 1.5 hours overall fastest for you to get to your hotel from the airport. Don’t forget to add on another 1 hour (which is a mad rush) to get off the plane, clear custom, exchange money, get portable WiFi, get SUICA and also to collect your luggage. Fastest will be 2.5 hours for you to settle everything and get to your hotel, so hopefully you arrive right before 6pm. There’s no need for lunch at this point, it’s already dinner time. Check-in hotel need time also, and you will need to head up to your room to drop off your luggages.YAE kimono closes by 5.30pm according to google, and usually rental goes by an hour so you’ll need to be there by 4pm to rent which is impossible.Suggestion will just Senso-ji with Nakamise Shopping St and also Denboin St. Have a good dinner or change your Ichiran to dinner time then call it a day. This is already quite pushing it as you’re from the States and probably be suffering from jet lag.

   **Day 2** is really being idealistic also to depart from your hotel at 6am. You’re only human, you will be tired from your previous long day. Meiji Jingu and Yoyogi Park is nice but probably 2 hours is enough or 3 hours top if you’re taking it really slow. Most shops in Takeshita Street only open around 11am, so there’s no need to start your day that early. Before Shibuya Sky, you can probably explore around the area, do the crossing and Hachiko statue also. So that you’ll have more time for Shinjuku at night – a huge area.

   **Day 3** – once again, check opening hours of places you want to go. Most shops in Akihabara only opens from 11am onwards. You only have 2 hours to explore Akiba, Imperial Palace and Hie Shrine before you need to rush to your tonkatsu lunch at Ginza which is quite a mad dash. Suggest to cut down on stuff on your itinerary. As another commentor said, you also put two sushi dinners on the same day.

   **Day 4** – This is the day you should start early with breakfast at Tsukiji Market. Then quickly make your way to Hakone to make the most out of it, I would even suggest getting the earliest possible train there. There’s quite a lot to see – Hakone Shrine, Owakudani, Hakone Open Air Museum and boat cruise on Lake Ashi. You can google Hakone loop to see popular way to get around. Arriving Hakone after 3pm and needing to get to your ryokan and check-in means you’ll be missing most of the sights there already as most of the attraction there closes by 5pm. Go early on day 4 as you don’t have much time the next day to explore. It’s not worth the travel to Hakone if all you want to do is just stay in a ryokan.

5. Some input about the Hakone time frame: As someone who just stayed 3 days in a ryoukan there you’ll be able to visit one thing tops after your arrival. It already starts to get dark in that vulcanic crater around 4 pm, which is when you’ll realistically be ready to explore. Shinkansen takes 30 min, local train to Hakone-Yumoto takes 15 min, bus to the top takes around 40 min. It’s traffic chaos at some points along the serpent road to the top due to road work which limits the flow to one direction at a time. And also, it’s really cold when the sun sets, like your breath getting steamy cold.